The Nightmare Before Christmas
by Hikari-and-Yami
Summary: Yami, the pumpkin king, cant figure out whats missing even with the sudden arrival of Yugi and now that Yami has stumbled upon Christmas Town, he thinks that he's found his answer. He doesnt realize that everything he wanted was right in front of him. YYY
1. Halloween Town

Yuri: Hi everyone! New story alert! So get this. I wanted to write a Halloween fic but I wanted to write a Christmas fic too! So what better than to combine the two? And I thought of the perfect story too. I'm sure most of you have seen Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas, and if you haven't, you have lived a deprived childhood. For those of you who have seen it, then you understand why I chose this movie to combine my Christmas and Halloween fics. Anyways, I talk too much. On with the story.

Ryou: Yuri does not own Yu-Gi-Oh or the Nightmare Before Christmas.

Bakura: All hell would break loose if she did.

…Halloween Town…

He wasn't sure how long he'd been walking. It must have been one, two, maybe three hours. He had lost count. He always lost count when he was walking through the forest, which he frequently did. He didn't know why but the silence and the peacefulness that the woods provided always comforted him. But he knew he'd have to start heading back soon. It was starting to get late and the social workers at the orphanage would be pissed if they found out that he had left again.

A small breeze blew through his hair, sending the unique black and violet strands flying about while his blond bangs danced around his cherubic face restlessly. It wasn't so much the colors that made his hair so special as it was the way that his hair shot upwards towards the sky. Why it did that, he wasn't quite sure. He just assumed that God was in an extremely humorous mood the day he was created. Barely above five feet tall, his childish face and round amethyst eyes contributed to the fact that everyone who saw him believed him to be fourteen when in reality his eighteenth birthday was on the horizon.

Realizing that he was digressing, he snuggled into his coat and looked up in order to scan his surroundings. He was confused when he didn't recognize anything. There were trees, yes, but all of the leaves had fallen off and were now sleeping on the ground whereas next to the orphanage, all of the trees were still littered with yellow and brown leaves. There was also not a path insight. Usually, when he took off on one of his little adventures, he had always stuck to following a path that he had made himself so that things like this would never happen. With one last look around the area, he let a sigh escape his lips.

Great. He was lost.

Not letting the panic sink in just yet, he continued to walk straight. Hopefully he would recognize a certain landmark or tree that would lead him back to the orphanage or, at the very least, a road. After a few minutes, he felt his heart rate begin to increase. His hands began to sweat even though it was pretty cold outside. He knew that if he didn't find something, or someone, soon than he wasn't going to be able to remain calm for much longer.

When he looked up again, he stopped. There, a few feet in front of him, was an opening in the forest. He had never noticed it before in all his times of exploring the serene forest. A thought crossed his mind and, almost instantly, a smile lit up on his face. Maybe from that opening, he would be able to see something that looked even remotely familiar. It was on a slight hill after all.

He broke into a small sprint, completely unaware of the eyes watching him from the shadows. When he got to the center of the opening, he tripped and fell onto the cold ground below. With an annoyed groan, he forced himself back up to his feet.

Stupid tree branch.

Slowly, he dusted himself off with his hands. It was then that something caught the corner of his eye, and he looked up to see a tree with a red heart painted on the front. The painting was large and was probably long enough that if he stood next to it, it would be slightly shorter than him. He turned to the tree beside that one to see a painting of a turkey on it. It didn't take him long to realize that each of the trees that surrounded him in this opening had a painting on it. Besides the two that he had already looked at, there was one with a four leaf clover, an Easter egg, a Christmas tree, and…a pumpkin?

He leaned forward and touched the painting of the pumpkin with his hand. It was more like a jack o-lantern though since it had dark eyes and a sinister smile on it. A small cough from behind him brought him back to reality, and he pivoted sharply to see a tall woman dressed in blue jeans and a purple shirt with a friendly smile plastered on her face. Her black hair was tied into a ponytail at the back of her head.

"Are you lost, small child?" the stranger asked politely.

The youth addressed as 'small child' inwardly groaned at the name but nodded nonetheless. He couldn't exactly say that he trusted this woman but, at this point, he had no other options. "Yes I am but I'm not a child. I'm seventeen. My name is Yugi," he said.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the woman apologized quickly. "You just look so young. My name is Holiday."

'Holiday?' Yugi repeated to himself. 'That's a queer name.'

"It's nice to meet you," the short youth responded nicely. "But can you please tell me how to get back to Hikari Center."

The woman raised an elegant eyebrow. "Hikari Center? The orphanage?"

Yugi turned his eyes to the ground and nodded. He hated other people knowing his 'situation' and prayed that this woman wouldn't pry. He was relieved when she began to talk again but not about the orphanage.

"I'll tell you how to get there," she said and then turned to look at all the paintings on the trees. Now, it was Yugi's turn to raise an eyebrow. A puzzled frown came to his face as he waited for the woman to tell him what she had said she would. However, it seemed like she had completely forgotten that he was even there. He was about to speak up when her voice cut through the silence like a knife.

"You know, Yugi. There's a story behind each one of these paintings," she said softly.

"A story?" Yugi inquired curiously.

The woman nodded, her light gray eyes shimmering gently. "Would you like to hear this story?"

Yugi bit the inside of his lip. He was so confused at this point. He just wanted to go home. Or whatever you called that place where he lived. "If I do, will you tell me how to get back?" Yugi asked.

"Of course," she replied.

Yugi sighed but nodded regardless. "Alright then."

The woman smiled and suddenly her eyes became slightly darker than before. And then, in a voice that sounded completely different than the one she had been using up until this point, she said: "Twas a long time ago, longer now than it seems, in a place that perhaps you've seen in your dreams. For the story that you are about to be told took place in the holiday worlds of old."

With unimaginable grace, she walked towards one of the trees; the one with the pumpkin on it. Then suddenly, she pulled at the side of the painting and the entire painting of the pumpkin opened like a door. She beckoned Yugi to come look. Out of pure curiosity, the smaller complied and peered over the opening in the tree only to see a long, dark tunnel spiraling downwards. He looked to the side when he realized that the woman had begun to speak again.

"Now you've probably wondered where holidays come from. If you haven't, I say it's about time you've begun," she said and, before he realized what had happened, Yugi was shoved inside the tree and was tumbling down into the dark abyss below him.

…

It had felt like eternity, really, the amount of time he had been falling. His throat was so sore from screaming that he had completely ceased to do so. Even though, in reality, he had been falling for about thirty seconds, he had forced himself to believe that he would never stop falling. That was why it was such a surprise when he hit a soft surface beneath him with a loud thud.

With eyes shut tight, he groaned in pain and proceeded to rub the back of his head. While it was true that the soft material beneath him had kept him alive, it still hurt like all hell. He had been falling at a fast pace after all. He heard murmurs around him but didn't exactly have the strength to open his eyes. When he did, he screamed out due to the fact that the first thing he saw was a glowing scarecrow above him.

He quickly backed up until he was in a corner and that was when he realized that the scarecrow wasn't leaning over him but was rather just leaning over the carriage he was in.

Wait…carriage? He looked down. Full of hay?

"What are you supposed to be?" a high-pitched voice said and Yugi turned his eyes to the side to see a young girl with blond hair and green eyes staring at him curiously. Another hoarse scream escaped his lips when he noticed how pasty and colorless her skin was. She looked like she was…dead.

"Can you stop doing that, you're bothering the other kids," she said.

Yugi looked around at these 'other kids' and would have screamed if the blond girl didn't place a hand over his mouth. "Why do you keep screaming?"

If Yugi could talk, then he would tell her why he kept screaming. For one, after what felt like hours of falling in complete darkness, he wound up in a carriage full of hay surrounded by small creatures that looked either dead or disfigured. He believed that was a good enough reason to keep screaming.

"What's your name?" she asked suddenly.

Yugi looked back at the girl and swallowed. With all the courage he could muster, which wasn't much, he stuttered out: "Y-Yugi. W-who are you? W-where am I?"

The girl laughed. "Why, you're in Halloween Town of course," she replied as if the answer was obvious.

Yugi shook his head. "Halloween Town?"

The blond nodded. "My name is Rebecca. I'm a witch. What are you? Why'd you fall from the sky?"

"I don't know, I was…wait! What do you mean a witch? What's going on!" Yugi shouted causing a few more glares from the other 'children' in the carriage. The sudden movement that Yugi made when he screamed caused the sleeve of his jacket to roll up a little bit and Rebecca immediately took hold of his wrist. Rolling up the sleeve a little bit more, she gasped when she saw stitching going around his entire wrist. Yugi was obviously just as surprised since he screamed out again.

"You're a doll!" Rebecca said with small excitement. "Dolls are so rare these days! You know, come to think of it, I've never seen you in Halloween Town before. Are you new or something?"

Yugi didn't respond as he snatched his wrist out of the girl's grasp and examined it himself more closely. He wouldn't believe it if he wasn't staring at it. A large line of stitches encircled his wrist as if…as if the stitches were the only things keeping his arm and hand together. Further inspection of his body led to the discovery of several more lines of stitches; one around each shoulder, his torso, his ankles, both wrists and, most importantly his neck. Yugi was seconds away from passing out when a thought came to him.

A dream! He must be dreaming! This all was just some sick, delusional dream. Or a nightmare for better words.

Without a second thought, he grabbed a section of his arm and pinched it as hard as he could. He cried out when a burst of pain went through his body. Well, he cried out anyways. Whether it was from the pain or the realization that all that was happening was real was undecided.

"It's going to begin!" Rebecca yelled out excitedly catching Yugi's attention.

"What's beginning?" he asked indifferently from his little corner, having accepted his dismal fate.

"The hay ride," she replied crawling over and taking a seat next to him. "It takes us through all of Halloween Town. Most of the younger kids do it. It's really fun. You came on a great day."

"Why? What's today?" Yugi asked, pulling his knees to his chest and resting his head on his legs.

She gave him a queer look before replying: "Why, it's Halloween."

The moment those words escaped her lips, the carriage gave a small jerk, and the person at the head of the carriage, who Yugi had just realized was a skeleton, turned around and smiled: "I ask that you keep your arms and feet in the vehicle at all times. Now if there are no questions, please enjoy the ride."

"Is something wrong, Yugi?" Rebecca asked when she noticed the color completely draining from Yugi's face. The other replied with a small shake of his head. "No, of course not. Why ever would something be wrong?"

Rebecca ignored the obvious sarcasm and quickly motioned for Yugi to look over the railing with her. Hesitantly, he crawled beside her and looked out into the night. His heart sank when he realized that they were in a graveyard. The vehicle began to pull forward and a terrible gasp escaped Yugi's trembling lips when shadows of ghouls and ghosts appeared on the tombstones. Several of the ghosts flew over them causing all the children on the truck to clap with Yugi as the exception.

"Boys and girls of every age, wouldn't you like to see something strange? Come with us and you will see, this, our town of Halloween," they said in unison and then completely vanished only to reappear a few inches away from the vehicle and fly in between the tombstones. However, one of the ghosts floated over to Yugi and whispered: "This is Halloween, pumpkins scream in the dead of night."

One of the kids on the ride, who looked like a vampire, laughed at this and added: "This is Halloween, everybody make a scene. Trick-or-treat till the neighbors gonna die of fright."

Everyone cheered loudly and Yugi would have passed out from fear at that very moment if Rebecca didn't grab onto his arm. "Don't worry," she said. "It's not that bad."

Yugi nodded and, assuming that it was over, sighed in relief. However, he knew that he was sadly mistaken when the carriage pulled into what looked like the city square. It was completely deserted along with terribly dark and quiet. Yugi blamed himself for not expecting anything when a man jumped onto the center of the carriage and glared out into the small crowd of children but had, of course, focused in on him. The man's brown eyes were hollow and his white, spiky hair added to his threatening appearance.

Yugi gasped when the man walked up to him and placed a finger underneath his chin forcing Yugi to look up at him. A sinister smirk creped onto his face and, in an instant, his eyes turned a dangerous red. With a low and deadly voice, the man said slowly: "I am the one hiding under your bed; teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red."

Yugi screamed out when someone else appeared beside him. This time it was a bulky, bronze man with wild blond hair and dark purple eyes. He leaned down to Yugi's ear and said amusingly: "I am the one hiding under your stairs; fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair."

In a blink of an eye, they both disappeared and Yugi's frightened scream got drowned out by all the clapping when three vampires covered in black floated out of a house beside them. They approached the carriage but luckily didn't get in. "In this town, we call home, everybody hail to the pumpkin song," they said with deadly smiles revealing sharp fangs.

"Look, it's the mayor!" Rebecca shouted out and everyone turned with smiles on their faces. At this point, Yugi's complexion had gone completely white but he still managed to turn around and see a tall brunet with ice blue eyes draped in a black trench coat. He wore a black hat and tie to match. Besides from his eyes covered with what looked like black powder, he seemed human.

The mayor took out a microphone and said with a small smirk: "In this town, don't we love it now? Everybody's waiting for the next surprise."

The arrival of two witches, one blond and the other brunette, didn't go unnoticed by Yugi. Especially when they flew past him, nearly cutting his head off in the process. The blond one smiled and said: "Aren't you scared? Well, that's just fine."

"Say it once, say it twice, take a chance and roll the dice. Ride with the moon in the dead of night," the brunette laughed and then they both took off on broomsticks.

They all turned to see a haunted tree with a sinister smile walk toward the carriage with several skeletons hanging from its limbs. Yugi was so scared the he could no longer scream. That's why when the skeletons began to talk to him, he didn't react.

"Everybody scream! Everybody scream! In our town of Halloween," they said.

A clown drove past the carriage and smiled. "I am the clown with the tear-away face," he said and then ripped off his face as if it was a door revealing a hollow interior. And then, right before disappearing, added: "Here in a flash and gone without a trace."

Suddenly, a blond youth with amber eyes appeared next to Yugi and whispered softly: "I am the 'who' when you call, 'Who's there?' I am the wind blowing through your hair."

And within a second, the boy had become transparent and a breeze blew past Yugi, making his hair dance in fear. When he saw everybody looking up, Yugi looked up as well to see a large shadow on the full moon. The shadow began to talk to everyone below but Yugi couldn't help but feel like it was talking to him directly when it said: "I am the shadow on the moon at night filling your dreams to the brim with fright."

The shadow vanished and, almost immediately, bats came flying towards him which he immediately swatted away. He hated bats.

"It's Malik and Ryou!" one of the disfigured children screamed out happily.

Yugi looked back to the center of the carriage and noticed two boys sitting in the middle who had not been there before. They both looked like smaller, nicer versions than the two boys that he had seen before. One was pale with soft brown eyes. He had several stitches over his body similar to the ones on Yugi. And the other, was tan with lavender eyes and platinum blond hair. He had a pair of fangs sticking out from his upper lip.

The tan boy smirked at the kids and said: "Tender lumplings everywhere, life's no fun without a good scare."

Then the paler one quickly added: "That's our job but we're not mean, in our town of Halloween."

They both pointed to the center of the square where the mayor was opening a gate. Everyone immeidately turned their attention to a hunched monster, who was dragging a wooden horse by a rope, out of said gate. On the horse was a scarecrow with a pumpkin for a head. Yugi, along with the others, were forced off of the carriage and onto the center of the square. Yugi was shocked when Malik and Ryou took his hand and leaded him to the front of the crowd but he didn't resist. He didn't want to get them angry.

"This is Halloween, everybody scream!" people, if that's what you want to call them, from the crowd shouted.

Yugi noticed the blond boy that had turned into a ghost standing next to mayor. He took the microphone in his hand and said: "Won't ya please make way for a very special guy?"

Yugi didn't know what he was talking about at first. However, a moment later, the scarecrow sitting on the horse suddenly jumped up and ripped a flaming knife out of someone's hands in the crowd.

"Our man, Yami, is king of the pumpkin patch. Everyone hail to the pumpkin king," the crowd chanted excitedly.

Yugi gasped when the scarecrow swallowed the torch whole. Immediately afterwards, flames lit up its entire body. Without any warning, it dived into the water fountain next to Yugi and everyone leaned up against the edge to peer into the water.

Ryou and Malik looked at each other and smiled. Then they turned to Yugi and said: "In this town, we call home, everyone hail to the pumpkin song."

That's when the figure stood up from the water. He was no longer wearing a scarecrow costume with a pumpkin on his head. No, now he was dressed in an old suit with a black tie. Black powder covered his eyes and, when he opened them, he revealed a stunning crimson. He had hair that shot up so very much like Yugi's with the small exception that his ends were dyed a dark ruby and he had several blond streaks that resembled lightening bolts. Yugi didn't know how long he had been staring but the sudden sound of clapping had brought him tumbling back to reality.

"It's over!" Malik shouted with a smile as he glanced at the clock that hung above the entire square. It had just struck twelve o' clock.

"We did it!" Ryou added happily.

"Wasn't it terrifying?" A creature that looked like a dead werewolf growled out.

Two ghouls beside the wolf nodded. "What a night!"

"Great Halloween everybody!" The mayor announced.

"I believe it was our most horrible yet," the handsome man who had appeared from the fountain said. "Thank you everyone."

"No, thank you Yami," Ryou praised. "Without your brilliant leadership—"

"Not at all! I couldn't have done it without Mayor Kaiba!" Yami said and the mayor just nodded in agreement.

"Always the modest type, aren't ya?" the blond boy said addressing the mayor with a playful grin. Yami smiled at the two and then turned around to see the two most beautiful witches in all of Halloween town approaching him.

"You're such a scream Yami!" the brunette witch giggled.

"You're a witch's fondest dreams!" the blond one agreed.

"Mai, Anzu, please, I'm not all that great!" Yami said sheepishly.

Kaiba immediately noticed the way that Yami began to back up into the wall behind him. "Wait everyone!" the brunet demanded, catching everybody's attention. "We haven't announced prizes yet."

With that, everyone turned back to focus on the mayor, and Yami, knowing that this was Kaiba's way of telling him to get away now, immediately dashed around the corner. "First award goes to the vampires for most blood drained in a single evening," he heard Kaiba say in the distance.

If he wasn't so focused in getting away then he wouldn't have almost collided with two of his closest friends.

"Hey Yami! Great show this year!" Ryou congratulated politely.

"Thank you. You two did great as well," Yami replied with a smile. He then looked down to see the most beautiful being he had ever seen in his life. And then the most breathtaking angel-like amethyst eyes that would make anyone's heart stop.

Malik noticed his friend's gaze and smiled. "This is Yugi. He's new here."

Yami nodded. "Hello Yugi," he said charmingly, addressing the little one in Malik's grasp. "Did you enjoy the show, little one?"

Yugi didn't respond. He couldn't move and could barely breathe. All he could do was stare into those alluring, crimson eyes. For a moment, he had forgotten about all the unbelievable shit that had happened to him over the last hour or so. Hearing the other's silky voice address him, he tried as hard as he could to respond. However, his response came out more like this: "I-I…you're a-a-."

And then everything went black. Well, it was only a matter of time till he passed out, right?

What Yugi didn't know is that Yami had caught him in his arms and had picked him up in a bridal position. "What's wrong with him?" Yami inquired suspiciously looking at the angelic boy in his arms with possessive eyes.

Malik shrugged but then slowly said. "Well, if I didn't know any better, I would say that he was…scared during the show."

"Scared?" Yami laughed. "No seriously, what's wrong with him?"

"I'm serious Yami. He's different. I don't know why, but something's definitely off about him," Malik responded.

Yami chose to ignore his friend's ranting for now. "Well, where does he live?"

Malik looked to Ryou who sighed. "I haven't seen him before. Neither has anyone else that I've talked too."

Yami sighed but nodded anyways. "Alright, I'll just put him in my guest room till he wakes up," he said but then added to himself: 'Besides, I think I would like to know more about this boy.'

The three exchanged a few more words before Malik and Ryou took off. It didn't take long for Yami to get to his house, it being the biggest one in Halloween town besides that of the mayor's. When he had gotten to the guest room, he placed the unconscious boy down on the bed gently and covered him with the blankets. Yami didn't know why but, for some reason, he felt…drawn to this boy. There was just something about him. Something fascinating and beautiful.

Yami didn't know what came over him, but in his mindless obsession over this youth, he bent down placed a small kiss on the soft, petal-like lips.

"Goodnight little one," Yami said and, ignoring the burning sensation in his cheeks, he walked to the door and flicked off the lights. "May your sleep be filled with the darkest nightmares."

…TBC…

Yuri: WELL? Tell me what you think! Seriously, I need to know because these chapters take forever so I need to know that people will read this story. According to my poll, you guys will but I need some feedback. Love you guys!

Alright and remember that this is Halloween town just in case the 126 times I've said it in this chapter wasn't enough. When Yami wished Yugi bad nightmares, it was basically like us wishing our lovers or children sweet dreams. And also, don't worry, Yami is considered a skeleton in this story. Why he is will be revealed later. See you guys soon.

P.S. If you haven't seen the movie than you are probably wondering why I used the dialogue I did. For the most part, the dialogue is a song. Here's the link if you want to listen to it, which I suggest you do because I am trying to stick as close as I possibly can with the movie. Here you go.

youtube dot com/watch?v=Bz2Ho62dVr0


	2. Yami's Lament

Yuri: -squeals- Oh, thank you, thank you for all the lovely reviews! –glomps reviewers- Thank you! Thank you!

Anyways, I'm glad to hear that so many of you have seen the movie. There were a few who haven't but I still hope you enjoy the story. I actually haven't seen the movie in about a year but I just started watching it on youtube again for this fic and I forgot how awesome it was.

I am very shocked to read how many of you have been to Halloween Town before. I was dying laughing reading some of your reviews. Many of you were very jealous that Yugi got to go to Halloween Town and meet super sexy Yami! Lol! Speaking of reviews, here are some review responses. I won't respond to every review, but if you ask a question or leave a very nice review then I will. It's not that I don't love you all, it's just that it'll take up way too much space. But I'm going to send personal thank you's out anyways.

Review Responses:

**Stephanie:** Yes, this is a YugixYami romantic story!

**SilverDragon-Purity:** Aw, your leaving! -glomps you- I'm gonna miss you. It won't be for long though, right? Only a week! Hope this chapter is enough to hold you off until you come back.

**Eternal Nightshade:** You like kingdom hearts too? I love it! I'm glad you found the story funny and entertaining to read. And yes, doll Yugi is adorable! Thanks for the review!

Please Enjoy!

…Lament…

Slow and steady breaths could be heard coming from the bed and, if one looked over, the sight of a small spiky-haired youth sleeping peacefully on the bed could be seen. However, Yugi was no where close to 'sleeping peacefully.'

In fact, Yugi was wide awake. He had been for about an hour now. He had just hoped that if he didn't open his eyes then what had happened the night before would just become a dream; a figment of his imagination. He knew that he was being naïve but it didn't hurt to pretend. The sound of barking reached his ears causing Yugi to sigh  
heavily, his hopes having been crushed into the ground.

There were no dogs allowed at the orphanage.

Despite the immense fear eating away at his mind, Yugi ripped the blankets off of his body and sat up to see a transparent dog floating above him. The ghost dog was small, maybe slightly bigger than his hand. It had long ears and an adorable button red nose. A collar lined its neck and round black eyes stared at him with untouched excitement. To say the least, it was without a doubt, the cutest thing that Yugi had ever seen in his life.

Another bark from the small dog brought Yugi out of his musings and, the next thing he knew, the ghost flew up to his face and licked his cheek. Yugi didn't feel anything, of course, but it was still a nice gesture of affection.

"H-hi," Yugi said unsurely and was rewarded with another bark for his efforts. Yugi  
smiled, suddenly feeling at lot more at ease. So maybe not all ghosts were scary.

Yugi scanned the room that he was in and bit his lip. He hoped that he wasn't in some crazy vampire's house. He was pretty sure that another repeat of last night would send him to an early grave. His heart wouldn't be able to handle it. Turning back to the dog, Yugi scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly before saying: "U-um, do you know where I am? Like, whose house I'm in?"

He had to admit that he felt kind of silly talking to a ghost dog but he figured that in this world anything was possible. The dog gave him a curious look before realization flashed in those round black eyes. As if understanding what Yugi was saying, the dog barked and then flew to the door. Yugi immediately understood that it wanted him to follow it.  
At first, he wasn't too sure. If he was in a monster's house then he really didn't want to go wandering around. However…

He trusted the dog. He also figured that if someone was nice enough to put him in bed and tuck him in then they probably weren't that bad. Suddenly, the dog flew out of the room and, almost falling as he did so; Yugi quickly stumbled out of bed and ran after it. Once he got out of the room, he noticed that he was in a long hallway, filled with several doors. He watched as the ghost dog went through one at the end of the hall and Yugi cautiously followed it.

When he opened the door, Yugi was surprised to find himself in what looked like a library. It was absolutely huge, probably the size of a half a dozen bedrooms put together, and it was littered with hundreds of books. 'Wow,' Yugi said to himself as he walked over to one of the shelves where the dog was and glanced over the books. 'This person must really like to read.'

"I see you've had the pleasure of meeting Zero," a charming voice said and Yugi turned on his heels to see the same pair of hypnotizing crimson eyes that he had seen the night before. Yugi furrowed his eyebrows at the stranger's comment but then realized what the man was talking about.

"Zero? Oh, that's his name?" Yugi said while looking over his shoulder at the small dog.

"Yes, it is," Yami replied and, with a snap of his hand, the dog flew over to him. "Zero, go to bed alright. I'll come get you soon."

The dog barked in compliance and then disappeared before Yugi's eyes. The smaller frowned at this and Yami immediately took notice. "Don't worry, little one. He's just taking a nap. He'll be back."

Yugi nodded. "W-where does he sleep?" he asked still very cautious of the handsome stranger.

"In the graveyard," Yami replied while taking in Yugi's nervous composure. With elegant grace, Yami walked up to the smaller one and smiled. "I don't believe that we were formally introduced yet. Yesterday, you kind of…well, passed out on me. My name is Yami."

"My name's Yugi," the other replied quickly. "And I'm sorry about yesterday. I'm still having a hard time accepting that all this is real, you know."

"Accepting that what is real?" Yami inquired with a puzzled expression.

"This!" Yugi repeated exasperatedly while making a gesture with his hands.

Yami tilted his head to the side at Yugi's reaction. 'Hmm, Malik was right,' he mused and then said aloud: "You're very strange, little one."

Yugi couldn't help but roll his eyes. 'Yeah, _I'm_ the strange one,' he said to himself, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "You know, Yami," Yugi began in a tired voice. "Before yesterday, I didn't know that there was a world where people could just take their heads off when they felt like it."

Yugi flashed Yami a sideways glance and added: "And I certainly didn't know anybody who could swallow a knife, burst into flames, and survive."

A spark of interest lit up in those ruby eyes. "You're not from here, are you? Where do you come from, little one?" Yami inquired curiously.

Yugi sighed and leaned his head back against the book shelves. With eyes staring up at the ceiling, he said: "I don't know how to explain it to you. I was just in the woods yesterday walking around. All of the sudden, I came to an opening with all these weird paintings on the trees. Some woman came out of no where and opened one of the paintings like it was a door. Then she pushed me in. Thus how I wound up here. You see, back in my world, there are no monsters, no ghouls, and no…whatever you are. There are only humans."

Yugi looked back down at Yami and was very much surprised by the other's face. He had expected Yami to be skeptic, maybe even laugh at his story. But instead, the other had a glimmer of fascination in his eyes. For a moment, he thought he saw hope too…

"Will you help me get back?" Yugi said suddenly rising Yami out of his thoughts.

"Yes," was all that Yami said. Truthfully, even though this 'other world' still puzzled him, he had never been so excited in his entire life. The thought of there being something more out there than Halloween Town thrilled him to no end. He gazed at Yugi curiously and  
smiled. Maybe, just maybe, there was something more…

Offering the smaller a comforting smile, Yami said: "Your family must miss you."

Yugi's eyes instantly dropped. Yami noticed this reaction and frowned. "Did I say something wrong?" Yami asked.

"I don't have a family Yami. They're dead," Yugi whispered bitterly and then glanced at Yami before adding: "But apparently being dead doesn't mean much anymore."

Yami felt a pang of hurt stab at his heart due to the sadness radiating off of the small youth. For a moment, he wondered why he felt so close to the other but then quickly remembered his stolen kiss from the night before. Yami immediately tried to push those thoughts from his mind. "I'm sorry to hear that, little one."

Yugi nodded and then unexpectedly said: "Yami, what am I?"

Yami looked slightly surprised by the sudden shift in topic but figured it was for the best. "You, little one, are a doll," Yami said with a small smile.

Yugi furrowed his eyebrows. "What exactly is a doll?"

"A doll is an extremely rare creature in Halloween Town," Yami began but then burst out in laughter at the way Yugi's face grimaced at the word 'creature.'

"Creature? What am I, a diseased raccoon?" Yugi huffed out and Yami couldn't help but obsess over the cute pout on the other's beautiful face.

"Sorry, little one, but everyone here is a creature," Yami explained and Yugi reluctantly agreed.

"Anyways," Yami continued. "I believe the only other doll in Halloween Town, at the moment, is Ryou. Dolls are made out of leaves, you see. They're—"

"Wait, what do you mean 'made out of leaves?'" Yugi interrupted.

Yami scratched the back of his head and sighed. "It's difficult to explain. It would be a lot easier to show you. However, I don't want to give you a heart attack. Maybe, it's best if I get Ryou to explain this to you. He would be able to give you all the answers you want more clearly than I could. You trust him, right?"

Yugi slowly nodded his head. Sure, he was still skeptic of the citizens in this town but Ryou seemed nice enough.

"Alright then, I'll have him and Malik stop by later," Yami said.

"Yami?" Yugi said catching the other's full attention. "What are you anyways? I mean, you don't look like a vampire or a monster or a ghost."

Yami smiled. "I'm a skeleton."

Yugi shook his head in confusion. "You don't look like a skeleton. You have skin and eyes and hair and, you know, all the things that skeleton's aren't suppose to have."

Yami chuckled at Yugi's puzzled expression. So adorable.

"I'm a special kind," Yami answered.

Yugi arched a thin eyebrow. "Can you show me?"

Yami took this request into consideration but eventually shook his head. Yugi was obviously still adjusting to all the things that Halloween Town had to offer. He wanted Yugi to get use to this first…use to him. Especially before he revealed his true form. He wasn't known as the scariest thing in all of Halloween Town for nothing. "Not just yet, Yugi," Yami whispered while running his fingers through his spiky hair. "But I will."

Yugi didn't question Yami's reasons for telling him to wait. Part of him already knew that Yami didn't want to scare him. And that thought, to say the least, was…touching. Even though he was still a little shaken by everything, Yugi flashed Yami the best smile that he had to offer. "Thank you, Yami," he whispered and he could see the taller's face soften.

"For you, anything," Yami replied with a small smile. He reached over and brushed Yugi's soft cheek with his fingers. He felt Yugi's face heat up under his touch and watched as a large blush spread throughout the other's face. Realizing what he was doing, Yami quickly withdrew his hand from the Yugi's face and looked down.

"Yugi, I'm going to go out. I'll be back later," Yami said as he turned to leave.

"But…I…" Yugi started but couldn't finish. 'I don't want you to leave me,' was what he wanted to say.

"I won't be gone for long, little one," Yami assured at the other's crestfallen expression. "And I'll tell Ryou and Malik to come over until then. Is that okay with you?"

"It's fine," Yugi replied and, after a few more words, Yami was heading out of the door.

Before closing the door behind him, Yami turned and smiled at Yugi one last time. And then he was gone. The moment the sound of the door closing reached Yugi's ears, he exhaled. He hadn't noticed that he had been holding his breath until that very moment. That look…that smile…was that for him? Or did Yami always look at people like that?

Secretly, Yugi hoped not. He just didn't want to admit it to himself.

Looking back at the books on the shelves, Yugi couldn't help but be curious as to where Yami was going. He had always been like that. And the sad thing was that once he was curious about something then it took almost all of his will-power not to do anything about it. Well, it couldn't hurt to check where Yami was going to, right? No, of course not.

And with that final thought, Yugi left the room and headed out of the house.

…

Yugi was surprised when he had followed Yami to the graveyard. He was sure that Yami would be heading to the city square to meet some people. Why did he want to be all alone surrounded by all these tombs? Using his detective skills that he had learned from watching all those shows as a child, Yugi snuck up behind a tombstone and watched Yami closely. What was he doing here?

With a finger resting gently on his chin, Yami walked through the graveyard completely lost in a world of his own, oblivious to the amethyst eyes that were watching his every move. Without even thinking, he momentarily stopped at a small tombstone, bent down, and padded the bottom of his leg. Within a moment, Zero arose from the grave and immediately flew over to his master.

Finding a spot to lean on, Yami rested his cheek on his closed fist and sent Zero a sideways glance before speaking out thoughtfully to no one in particular: "There are few who deny, at what I do, I am the best for my talents are renowned far and wide. When it comes to surprises on a moonlit night, I excel without ever even trying."

Zero barked happily at his master and watched as Yami jumped on top of a tombstone with effortless grace. Yami smirked at the encouragement and then jumped to another. "With the slightest little effort of my ghostlike charms, I have seen grown men give out a shriek," he spoke and then quickly added: "With the wave of my hand and a well-placed moan, I have swept the very bravest off their feet."

Zero smiled at his master's playfulness but whined when Yami's demeanor suddenly changed and his handsome face twisted with agonizing confusion. Yami slowly leaped back onto the ground and turned to his pet with a frown. "Yet year after year it's the same routine and I grow so weary of the sound of screams. And I, Yami, the pumpkin king, have grown so tired of the same old thing..."

At this point, Yugi was leaning up against the tombstone that he was hiding behind even more so that he could hear Yami's words that had both captivated and surprised him. He could practically hear Yami's heart breaking in those words. He could hear his frustration and confusion; his sadness and longing. Without even realizing it, Yugi placed his hand over his chest. For some reason, his heart hurt too. The amethyst-eyed doll watched as Yami walked onto a steep hill, which seemed to twirl at the very top, with Zero close in pursuit. He smiled when Yami's memorizing voice blew past his ears, tickling his cheeks as it did so.

"Oh, somewhere deep inside of these bones, an emptiness began to grow. There's something out there far from my home; a longing that I've never known," Yami whispered aloud to himself. Or so he thought.

Yami smiled ever-so-slightly when he glanced down at the scenery below him to see a pumpkin patch. With a small movement of his hands, the pumpkins let out a scream and several ghosts flew out of their mouths and disappeared into the night sky. Yami's smile then turned at the corners before he spoke to his hovering pet beside him: "I'm a master of fright and a demon of light and I'll scare you right out of your pants. But who here would ever understand that the Pumpkin King with the skeleton grin would tire of his crown, if they only understood, he'd give it all up if he only could."

Yugi felt tears brim his eyelashes. Was that really how Yami felt? Was he really that tired of being the center of attention? Of being a king? Maybe, it wasn't that so much as it was that Yami had no one to share it with. Yami was…all alone. Just like him.

Yugi cautiously peeked out from behind the tombstone but then gasped quietly when Yami turned around. Luckily, the younger was quicker, and had managed to hide back behind the stone before Yami saw him. After realizing that Yami hadn't seen him, he exhaled slowly and his heart rate came back to a steady pace. When Yugi had managed to muster up enough courage to peek out again, he saw Yami walking down the other side of the hill as the twirled section at the top began to unfold beneath his feet as if it had a life of its own. Soon enough, Yami had arrived at the opposite side and the skinny section spun itself right back up again at the top of the hill. Yugi frowned knowing very well that there was no way that the creepy, scary, hill thingy had any intention of letting him cross as well. The last thing he heard finally triggered the release of the tears that he had been holding back up till this point.

"Oh, there's an empty place in my bones that calls out for something unknown. The fame and praise that come year after year does nothing for these empty tears..."

And then, Yami was gone. Yugi could no longer see him or Zero since the two had walked straight into the woods on the other side of the graveyard.

"Yami," Yugi whispered sadly. "I know how you feel."

With a heavy heart and conflicting emotions, Yugi made his way back to Yami's house. The moment he had opened the front door and walked into one of the rooms, someone grabbed him from the back of his shirt and yanked him back. For a moment, he panicked. That was until the one behind him spoke.

"Hey Ryou! I found the little devil."

Yugi turned to see Malik and, a second later, Ryou appeared through the door. "There you are!" Ryou said relieved. "We've been looking everywhere for you. Yami would have had our heads if we lost you." The pale boy chuckled. "Literally."

"Oh, sorry about that. I was…doing something," Yugi apologized. At this point, he wasn't really scared of the other two boys. They were both nice enough and, right now, they were the closest things to friends he had.

Ryou nodded and then gestured to a table with a few chairs. "Yami mentioned that have some questions for us."

"I do if you don't mind," Yugi said sheepishly.

"Aw, he's so cute," Malik teased only to be slapped lightly on the arm by Ryou.

"Leave him alone. He's already going to have to deal with Bakura's and Marik's incessant teasing. He really doesn't need your input too," Ryou said with a playful glare.

"Bakura and Marik?" Yugi questioned suspiciously.

Malik shook his head. "Hopefully you won't have to meet those two for a little while. At least until you more accustomed to Halloween Town. I can tell you're not from here."

"You're right, I'm not," Yugi replied.

"Well, I'm sure you have a lot of questions for us then," Ryou mused as they all took a seat. "Shall we begin?"

Yugi nodded. "Well, to start, what in the world am I?"

Yugi listened intently to Ryou's explanation and Malik's comments every now and then. However, no matter how interested he was in the conversation, he could not shake Yami out of his thoughts. He was so drawn to the crimson-eyed youth. He couldn't explain it. The way that he felt when Yami smiled at him or touched him was indescribable. Yugi subconsciously bit his lip as realization hit him like a bullet. No matter what happened from this moment on, thoughts of Yami would plague his dreams for as long as he lived.

…TBC…

Yuri: So, this chapter is a song in the movie too. Most of the movie is songs so that will be how most of the chapters are. If you want to see the part of the movie with thing song then go to youtube dot com and type in Jack's Lament from the Nightmare Before Christmas. Review please! Love you all!

P.S. For those of you that have seen the movie, the part of the movie that Jack's sings 'What's this?' is next! That's my favorite part in the movie! See you guys!


	3. What's This?

Yuri: -glares at the pink bunny locked up in the cage- Now, that I've taken control of my plot bunny that was going on a rampage for a while, here's the next chapter! I hope to guys like it. And remember to vote in my new poll! Enjoy!

**Review Responses:**

**Eternal Nightshade:** Ha! I agree. Yugi most certainly would have fainted if Yami had taken off his head. I'm glad you're watching the movie again! I love this movie. Anyways, thanks for the review!

**CrazyAbout****Yugi****:** I love "Sally's Song" too! It's going to be so cute when Yugi sings it. Thanks for reviewing!

**Lime Rocker:** It's my favorite part too! I hope you like it. Thanks!

…What's This?...

It had been some time ago that Yami had wandered off into the woods with Zero at his side. At one point, he winded up in a part of the woods that he had never seen before. Spotting an opening up ahead, he beckoned Zero to follow him. It didn't take that long for them both to arrive in the desired destination only to stop dead in their tracks when they realized the colored paintings on the surrounded trees.

Something in his mind snapped like a twig. _Yugi…_

Yesterday, when Yugi was telling him how he got here, he said that he was pushed in to a tree with a painting on it…just like the ones he was staring at right now.

"What is this?" Yami said aloud to himself. Zero gave a shrill bark but Yami paid him no mind. He looked to the side of him to see a tree with a large pink heart on it, then besides it, a tree with a four leaf clover. There was also a turkey and an egg on two other ones. However, what really caught his attention was the tree with another tree painted on it. This tree was different than any other he had ever seen in his like. It was a vibrant green color with several ornaments consisting of various shapes and designs. On top was a bright, yellow star. It was beautiful and fascinating…like Yugi.

Leaning over, Yami noticed the one of the gold ornaments wasn't painted on the tree but was rather sticking out like a doorknob. Curiosity getting the better of him, he reached over and turned to knob and pulled only to realize that the whole painting was coming off like a door. Crimson eyes scanned the inside of the tree only to see what looked like a hollow tunnel. Turning to Zero, Yami shrugged his shoulders in confusion before feeling a breeze shoot out from the tunnel and embrace him.

Seconds later, the wind yanked him backwards, pulling him down into the dark tunnel and forcing the door close in the process leaving Zero all by himself.

Yami could barely see a thing and could only feel the force of gravity pulling him downwards. He felt another chilly breeze and shivered in response. After a few moments, he hit the ground with a thud but was relieved when he landed on a soft surface…not that he would have died though. You can't kill what's already dead.

Yami brought two hands up to rub his head and groaned. When he was able to open his eyes again, he fell back in awe when he saw he was surrounded with what he was sure was snow. Halloween Town had never gotten snow but he had read about it. What amazed him even more was when he spotted a small town in the distance filled with lights and what sounded like laughter.

Unable to control himself, Yami leaned over as far as he could on the hill he was perched on, only to loose his balance and roll down the steep hill until he stopped in the middle of the town, face-first in the snow.

Wiping his face off with his sleeves, he stood to his feet and grinned. He grabbed a falling snowflake and brought it close to his eyes.

"What's this? What's this? There's color everywhere. What's this? There's white things in the air," he said to himself only to realize that he was standing in front of a snowman. He reached over to take off the scarf and hat and place it on himself. "What's this? I can't believe my eyes, I must be dreaming. Wake up, Yami, this isn't fair! What's this?"

When he heard a noise coming from beside him, Yami quickly hid behind the snowman and watched as a small sled machine drove by with very short people on it with pointy ears, all of them singing and waving as other small people passed by.

Yami raised an eyebrow. "What's this? What's this? There's something very wrong. What's this? There's people singing songs. What's this? The streets are lined with little creatures laughing. Everybody seems so happy. Have I possibly gone daffy? What is this?"

In a quick motion, Yami climbed up a telephone pole and placed his hand at the bottom of his forehead as he peered out into the small town. He was even more confused when he saw a group of kids playing in the snow. "There's children throwing snowballs, instead of throwing heads. They're busy building toys and absolutely no one's dead."

Jumping back down to the ground, Yami leaned up against a house and smiled. "There's frost on every window. Oh, I can't believe my eyes. And in my bones I feel the warmth that's coming from inside…"

He heard a noise come from inside the house he was leaning against and turned to see two of the small creatures, through the window on the door, hanging a small plant on top of a door frame. Yami pressed his face up to the glass in amazement. "Oh, look! What's this? They're hanging mistletoes. They kiss? Why that looks so unique. Inspired! They're gathering around to hear a story roasting chestnuts on a fire. What's this?"

He noticed another house nearby and peeked into it to see a bunch of other creatures surrounding a tree as they attempted to decorate it. Yami tilted his head to the side but couldn't stop the bright smile that graced his lips. "What's this? In here they've got a little tree. How queer! And who would ever think and why? They're covering it with tiny little things, they've got electric lights on strings and there's a smile on everyone so, now, correct me if I'm wrong, this looks like fun. Oh, could it be I got my wish? What's this?"

Quickly, Yami made his way to the roof of one of the houses and silently opened up one of the windows before sneaking in. Beside him, Yami noticed were two beds filled with sleeping kids. He got to his knees to look under the bed and was shocked to see nothing but a few sweaters and shoes. "Oh my, what now? The children are asleep but look, there's nothing underneath. No ghouls, no witches here to scream and scare them or ensnare them, only little cozy things secure inside their dreamland."

He sensed one of the children stirring and quickly disappeared back out of the window. He walked out on the very edge of the roof and smiled. "The monsters are all missing and the nightmares can't be found. And in their place there seems to be good feeling all around. Instead of screams, I swear I can hear music in the air."

Hopping down skillfully, Yami landed right on the outside of the town. Without watching where he was going, Yami walked with long and determined strides back to the center of town. "The sights, the sounds! They're everywhere and all around. I've never felt so good before! This empty place inside of me is filling up, I simply cannot get enough. I want it, oh, I want it! Oh, I want it for my own; I've got to know what is this place that I have found? What. Is. This?"

And just like that, Yami walked head-on into a pole and immediately fell back into the comfort of the snow. His head was spinning from the harsh collision and, with blurry vision, Yami glanced up at the pole and noticed a sign on top of it. "Christmas Town?" Yami read off the sign. "Hmm..."

Suddenly, a door to a house nearby opened and the shadow of some sort of creature appeared on the snow. Yami scurried to his feet and, using the pole to hide himself, he looked around and peered at the creature with suspicious eyes.

…

Yugi laid in the bed with his eyes locked on the ceiling. Malik and Ryou had begged him several times already to get up but he refused. Yami had not come home last night, and to say that Yugi was worried was an understatement. Not to mention the whole town had lost their mind and were currently on a man-hunt for the crimson-eyed king.

Where was Yami? Why hadn't he come home? Was it because of him? Did he do something wrong? These were all questions that plagued Yugi's mind and apparently they had no intention of leaving him alone any time soon. He didn't know why but something about not having Yami next to him was causing him to feel…depressed.

It was hard enough getting used to this new place already and, though Ryou and Malik were great friends now, it wasn't the same without Yami; without the person who had taken him in and listened to his story. The person who he was starting to feel strangely connected to…it just wasn't the same.

To get his mind off of the mysterious yet charming youth, Yugi let his mind wander back to his conversation with Ryou and Malik the night before.

{Flashback}

"Yugi, it's kind of hard to explain what a doll is. That's why Yami wanted me to show you," Ryou explained softly. "But listen to me first. A doll is a creature that is sewed together in different places. We don't bleed nor do we have any blood whatsoever in our system. Instead, we are filled with leaves."

Yugi nearly fell back in his chair. "What!?"

Malik chuckled at the other expression revealing his fangs in the process. Ryou only sighed. "Here, let me show you," he said and, before Yugi's eyes, Ryou pulled at the thread connecting his hand to his arm and, in mere seconds, Ryou's hand was sitting on top of the table with leaves sticking out of the bottom of it. Meanwhile, Ryou's arm was at his side, a few leaves falling from where his hand used to be on to the floor. "The best part is that you can control your fallen body parts," he said and Yugi gasped when Ryou's hand began to walk on the table with its fingers.

"Oh. My. God!" Yugi shouted in absolute shock. "Are you trying to tell me that I can do that too!?"

Ryou nodded. "Pretty much. Sometimes, the thread connecting different parts of your body becomes loose or worn so don't freak out if you randomly loose an arm," Ryou continued and, at the incredulous look on Yugi's face, he pulled a needle out that was tucked behind his ear. "I suggest that you keep a needle and a roll of thread with you at all times. It's really easy to sew your body parts back together once you get the hang of it," Ryou said and, as to demonstrate, the white-haired doll put a piece of thread through the needle and sewed his hand back to his arm in thirty seconds flat.

{End of Flashback}

Immediately after that conversation, Yugi had found a pin and an unused roll of thread and had stuffed it in his pants pocket. Yugi let a sigh escape his lips as he sat up in his bed with a sigh before leaning over to open his window and listen to what was going on outside. He instantly spotted Malik and Ryou talking with the blond ghost, Jou.

"This has never happened before!" Ryou spoke worriedly.

"It's suspicious," Malik added thoughtfully.

"It's peculiar," Jou agreed.

"It's scary!" two vampires said while they were passing the talking trio.

"Stand aside!" came a demanding voice and they all turned to see Kaiba making his way over to the stage in the center of the city square.

"Here he goes again," Jou sighed. Malik and Ryou just nodded in agreement.

Taking out a microphone, Kaiba beckoned for everybody to come forward. When they complied, the brunet ordered through clenched teeth: "We've got to find Yami! There's only three hundred and sixty-five days till next Halloween!"

"Three hundred and sixty-four!" a disfigured wolf yelled out of the crowd.

Kaiba grimaced. "Is there anywhere that we've forgotten to check?"

"We checked everywhere," Mai informed softly.

Anzu nodded. "We even checked in the pumpkin patch."

By this time, Yugi had made his way outside and was now standing next to Malik, Ryou and Jou, who were, in all honesty, the only people that he trusted in the entire town. At least, they weren't that scary. Yugi looked to the vampire beside him. Alright, so maybe Malik was but he was still a good guy all around.

Yugi's ear perked when he heard a soft bark coming from the graveyard. "What's that?" he whispered almost to himself.

"What's what?" Ryou asked, looking down at the other.

"That," Yugi repeated and this time Ryou had heard a bark as well.

"It's Zero!" Ryou shouted happily and everyone turned to see the said dog floating into the city square followed by Yami who was carrying a large, white sack on his back.

"Yami's back!" random creatures cheered and, Yugi kept himself in the back as the entire crowd circled around Yami.

"Move!" Kaiba hissed from behind the crowd and everybody immediately opened up to allow the Mayor direct access to Yami. "And just where have you been?" Kaiba inquired suspiciously.

Yami grinned. "Call a town meeting and I'll tell everybody all about it!"

"When?" Kaiba questioned, slightly intrigued.

"Immediately!" Yami replied and it wasn't seconds later that Kaiba was ordering everyone to proceed to the town hall.

As the crowd began to diminish, Yami spotted Yugi lingering in the back. Quickly, the latter walked over to him. "Yugi, I--"

"You didn't come home last night," Yugi interrupted and Yami noticed the sadness in the other's voice.

"I'm sorry," Yami apologized but suddenly smirked when something came to his mind. "Were you worried?" he asked softly.

Yugi instantly blushed. "Yes," the smaller one replied, looking down to hide his pink-tinted cheeks.

Yami smiled and with his finger tilted Yugi's face up so that the other's amethyst eyes locked with his crimson ones. "Thank you for your concern, little one. But as you can see, I am alright. Would you care to accompany me to the town meeting?"

Not trusting his voice, Yugi just nodded, trying to fight down the blush at having Yami's face so close to his own. Yami quickly grabbed on to Yugi's hand and led him towards the end of the city square while behind him Yugi was cursing himself for beginning to fall for someone that he barely even knew.

...TBC...

Yuri: As I was writing this, I was realizing how much of a psycho stalker Yami was beginning to sound like. I was laughing so hard with him creeping into people's houses. Anyways, I hope all of you have a Merry Christmas or Happy Holiday! Talk to you guys soon! Review Please!


	4. Town Meeting

Yuri: So, here's the next chapter. It's not as long as the other's but I hope you guys enjoy it! Be sure to check out my new story, 'Untouched.'

Review Responses:

**SilverDragon-Purity:** -hugs- Anyways, a familiar character will be playing Oogie Boogie. And Yugi will have the premonition like Sally does. As for Yugi returning to Earth, you'll just have to read and find out!

**Cheetahkit:** Umm, not all but some are. My others are inspired by songs! Thanks for the review!

Enjoy!

…Town Meeting…

"What are you going to talk about, Yami?" Yugi inquired as the other sat him down on one of the benches in the small auditorium. Yami only smiled in response.

"You'll see," Yami promised.

"You don't plan on leaving me all alone, do you?" Yugi asked nervously, shifting his large, amethyst jewels to scan the suspicious crowd.

Yami couldn't help but smile at the precious doll. Yugi was still frightened and skeptical about everything but he guessed that he really couldn't blame him.

"Of course not, Yugi," Yami replied and quickly spotted Ryou, Malik, and Jou in the crowd before waving them over. "I'll see you after, alright?" Yami assured Yugi before vanishing behind the stage curtains, leaving the smaller to the company of the friendly trio who were all sporting wide grins. Yugi stared after the crimson-eyed youth with a small smile until Malik snatched his attention away.

"Oh, you like him!" the platinum-haired boy teased mercilessly.

A fiery blush instantly spread over Yugi's cheeks. "No, I don't!"

"Yes, you do!" Malik continued, poking Yugi in the side.

"Malik, leave him alone!" Ryou reprimanded even though he was smiling as well.

Yugi dug his face in his hands and groaned causing the three boys beside him to snicker. The sound of someone clearing their throat caught his attention though, and Yugi looked up to see Yami standing on the stage behind a podium.

"Listen everyone!" Yami demanded and instantly the room became silent. "I want to tell you about Christmas Town."

Yugi blinked at this and leaned forward slightly in his seat. Yami straightened out his tie before saying: "There were objects so peculiar, they were not to be believed. It's a world unlike anything I've ever seen and as hard as I try I can't seem to describe, like the most improbable dream."

Yami took two long strides to the other side of the stage and rested his hand on a small rope. "Here, let me show you," he stated before pulling at the rope. The curtains immediately separated to reveal a skinny green tree decorated with bright lights and colored balls with dozens of wrapped boxes underneath. A round of surprised gasps circled the room but Yugi just widened his eyes at the familiar sight.

Yami picked up a box from underneath the tree and held it out in his hands. "This is a thing called a present. The whole thing starts with a box."

"A box?" someone cut in and suddenly Yami was attacked with an onslaught of questions.

"Is it steel?"

"Are there locks?"

"Is it filled with a pox?"

"If you please!" Yami hushed before continuing: "Just a box with bright-colored paper and the whole thing is topped with a bow."

"A bow? But why?" Mai questioned.

"How ugly!" Anzu laughed.

"What's in it? What's in it?" Jou inquired.

Yami sighed. "That's the point, not to know."

Several creatures yanked the present away from Yami's grasp and examined it curiously.

"It's a bat!"

"Will it bend?"

"It's a rat!"

"Will it break?"

"Perhaps it's the head that I found in the lake."

Yami snatched the present back and groaned. "Listen now, you don't understand. That's not the point of Christmas land."

He placed the present back under the tree and picked up a large, red stocking and placed it against the wall. "Now, pay attention. We pick up an over-sized sock and hang it like this on the wall."

A vampire in the front stood up. "Oh, yes. Does it still have a foot?"

"Let me see, let me look," the corpse beside it spoke.

"Uh, let me explain," Yami chuckled nervously. "There's no foot inside, but there's candy! Or sometimes it's filled with small toys."

"Small toys?" Ryou interrupted.

"Do they bite?" Malik asked with a grin revealing his sharp fangs. "Do they snap? Or explode in the sack?"

Jou shrugged. "Perhaps they just spring out and scare girls and boys."

At the moment, Yugi looked absolutely terrified. What was _wrong_ with these people? He glanced sideways to see Kaiba walk up besides Jou.

"What a splendid idea. This Christmas sounds fun. I fully endorse it. Let's try it at once!" Kaiba commanded but Yami just quickly shook his head.

"Everyone, please! Now, not so fast. There's something here that you don't quite grasp," the tri-colored haired youth said catching everyone's attention again. Yami sighed and looked off to the side. "Well," he whispered to himself. "I may as well give them what they want."

Yami turned back to the crowd and grinned devilishly. "And the best, I must confess, I have saved for the last. For the ruler of this Christmas land is a fearsome king with a deep mighty voice. Least that's what I've come to understand."

Yugi frowned. Who was Yami talking about? He couldn't be talking about…

"And on a dark, cold night, under the full moonlight, he flies into a fog like a vulture in the sky," Yami spoke with a sinister smile. Everyone in the audience leaned forward on the edge of their seats with excitement.

"And they call him Sandy Claws," Yami finished and released a deep chuckle. Yugi's gasp couldn't be heard over the loud clapping. Yami gave a quick bow before walking off the stage, the curtain closing after him.

"Well, at least they're excited," Yami said to himself when he thought he was alone. "But they don't understand that special kind of feeling in Christmas land. Oh, well."

The sound of someone tapping their foot caught his attention and he turned to see Yugi standing behind him with an angry frown on his cherubic face.

"Yugi—"

"That's not what Santa Claus is like, Yami!" Yugi shouted, clearly upset.

Yami sighed softly. "I know, Yugi, but what could I tell them?"

"Oh, I don't know. How about the truth?!" Yugi yelled.

Yugi's anger immediately vanished when Yami took hold of his hand. "Come with me, Yugi," Yami spoke gently.

"Where are we going now?" Yugi inquired curiously while trying to fight down his blush. Why did Yami make him feel this way? Why could Yami's touch make him forget about everything? Why did he feel that he could never really stay mad at Yami?

"Back to my house. I need to learn more about this Christmas thing," Yami replied.

Yugi raised a curious eyebrow. "How are you going to—"

Yugi almost melted to the floor in a bubbling pool of mush when Yami placed a finger to his lips. "Shh, little one," Yami hushed soothingly. "I have to conduct a few experiments. Will you come with me to pick up some tools?"

Yugi nodded, still completely dazed. Yami smiled at the doll before turning and leading them to the corner of the town square. Only one person would have all the things that he needed for his experiments.

Dr. Valon.

…TBC…

Yuri: REVIEW guys! And be sure to vote in my new poll! BYE!


	5. Obsession

Yuri: So, here's a new chapter. Not much to say. I'm really tired though. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy!

...Obsession...

The large bedroom was filled with miscellaneous items that Dr. Valon had been so gracious to lend him. Not that Yami knew exactly how to use half of them but he was sure he could figure out how to. Since he and Yugi had returned home, he had locked himself in his room and began his experiments. Not that Yami didn't want Yugi around. It was just that Yugi was only going to serve as a distraction.

He ignored the small fists that were beating gently on his door and the sweet, addicting voice of _his_ precious doll that shouted through the wooden barrier.

"Yami!" Yugi whined. "For the one millionth time, you can't use experiments to try and decipher why people feel the way they do during Christmas. It isn't like solving a math problem! It's much more complicated than that!"

Yami winced when Yugi had mentioned math problems and stood straight up to stare at what he had just written on his chalk board.

'(Chestnuts/Open fire) divided by bells multiplied by December 25 plus Sandy Claws = Christmas?'

Yami tilted his head to the side. That didn't make much sense. But then again, there had to be a way. A simple solution.

Yugi had already explained everything he knew about Christmas to Yami but it wasn't enough. Since Yugi wasn't able to explain the true meaning of Christmas into an adequate description, Yami was forced to find the answer through these experiments. Yugi knew it was his fault too. He had never really had a Christmas before. Not one that he could remember anyways. And when Yami had asked him why people are happy during Christmas, Yugi just didn't know the answer. Maybe it was because all of his Christmas' were miserable since he was always alone.

After a few more failed attempts at trying to get Yami to listen to him, Yugi walked out to the front of the house with Zero by his side. He needed to get some air. He needed to get his thoughts straight.

He was happy that Yami was so interested in Christmas. But…he also missed the crimson-eyed youth. He worried that Yami was becoming a little too obsessive over this whole ordeal but he wanted Yami to be happy so he'd deal with it.

Taking in the fresh air in one, deep inhale, Yugi smiled, trying to let the worries of his mind evaporate into the night sky. He was starting to get used to Halloween Town and, at this point, he had no desire to find a way back home. It's not like anyone missed him. And besides, here he had friends, a place to stay, and…Yami.

The main reason he didn't want to go back is because he didn't want to be without Yami. He never wanted to be without Yami. Never.

Spying a beautiful flower protruding out of the ground, Yugi bent down on his knees and placed it in between his fingers before plucking it gently at the root. He examined it curiously and squealed when it began to morph right in front of eyes. Zero began to bark but Yugi quickly hushed him and watched as the flower began to change into a small tree.

The braches grew and covered themselves in green leaves. A yellow star molded itself onto the top and several ornaments manifested onto the limbs from evidently thin air. Yugi awed at the breathtaking sight. It looked like a miniature Christmas tree.

And then it erupted into flames.

…

Yugi was surprised the next morning when Jou, Ryou, and Malik had showed up at the house. After much persuasion since Yugi was extremely reluctant to leave Yami alone, they had managed to get him out the house and they were all now taking a walk through the city square.

"So, Yugi, are you enjoying your time in Halloween Town?" Ryou asked politely.

"Well, it definitely is something new," was Yugi's sheepish reply.

"Are you enjoying your time with Yami?" Malik questioned, his tone full of amusement that matched the grin on his tan face.

"Malik!" Ryou admonished quietly at Yugi's dark blush.

"How is he doing anyways?" Jou inquired suddenly. "He's been quiet ever since the town meeting."

Yugi sighed. "He's still trying to figure out the meaning of Christmas."

"Oh?" Ryou asked, interest seeping into his tone. "Do you know the meaning of Christmas?"

"It's difficult to explain."

"Well, we have the time," Malik chimed in. "It looked pretty interesting at the town meeting."

Jou nodded in agreement and Yugi was about to say something when he noticed a swarm of creatures lined up outside of Yami's place. Both curiosity and fear flooding his mind, Yugi hurriedly ran over to the crowd with his three friends hot on his trail.

"What's going on?" Jou asked a vampire when they had reached the crowd.

The vampire pointed up to Yami's window. "Something's up with Yami."

"He's all alone up there locked away inside," another vampire added.

"Never says a word. Hope he hasn't died," A corpse mused and Yugi felt his heart stop for a second until he noticed Yami in the window.

"Don't worry, Yug. I'm sure he's fine," Jou assured, noticing the way Yugi tensed up at the last comment.

Yugi nodded before looking back up with worried eyes to see Yami pacing back and forth restlessly through the large window. The premonition from the previous night nagged at the back of his head. He had tried to pass the whole incident off as a figment of his imagination. But maybe he should tell Yami about it. Maybe it was some kind of warning. It would probably be for the best for him to tell the other…right?

While Yugi let himself get lost in his thoughts, inside the house Yami was resisting the urge to hit his head against the wall. He was so damn frustrated though. Why couldn't he figure this out? Why was it so difficult?

With a defeated sigh, Yami collapsed in a chair and began to tap his fingers on his desk. "Christmas time is buzzing in my skull. Will it let me be? I cannot tell," he whispered to himself.

His gaze locked onto Zero who had just awakened from his nap. "There are so many things I cannot grasp. When I think I've got it and then at last, through my fingers it does slip like a snowflake in a fiery grip." Zero barked happily and watched as his master stood back up only to begin pacing again.

"Something's here I'm not quite getting, though I try, I keep forgetting like a memory long since past. Here in an instant, gone in a flash. What does it mean? What does it mean?"

Yami turned to look at the measuring cups that he had filled with water and small Christmas toys. It was part of one of his failed experiments to find the true meaning of Christmas. "In these little bric-a-bracs, a secret's waiting to be cracked. These dolls and toys confuse me so. Confound it all, I love it though."

Yami picked up a doll and eyed it suspiciously. "Simple objects, nothing more but something's hidden through a door though I do not have the key. Something's there I cannot see. What does it mean? What does it mean?"

A frustrated growl escaping his lips, Yami tossed the doll to the side only for it to land in Zero's small bed. Zero sniffed at the toy and barked before lying back down to watch Yami pick up a thin book and scan through the pages. He released another bark, sensing his master's aggravation. Yami glanced at the dog and then back at the book.

"I've read these Christmas books so many times. I know the stories and I know the rhymes. I know the Christmas carols all by heart. My skull's so full, it's tearing me apart! As often as I've read them, something's wrong…so hard to put my finger on. Or perhaps it's really not as deep as I've been led to think. Am I trying much too hard?"

Yami dropped the book to the floor resulting in a small thud before striding over to the window. His eyes immediately locked on to two bright pools of amethyst that shined with worry and concern.

_Yugi…_

A small smile came to his face. Ever since he had met the angel-like doll, his world came to a screeching halt. Looking into those beautiful jewels, Yami wanted nothing more than to have Yugi to himself for the rest of his life. But…

Yami sighed. Yugi would never choose to stay here with him. He probably wanted to get back home as soon as possible. But Yami wanted more than anything for him to stay. Maybe if he could show Yugi how he felt…maybe if he could give Yugi something…like a present.

Yami's eyes snapped open as realization struck him. "Of course! I've been too close to see the answer's right in front of me! It's simple really, very clear like music drifting in the air. Invisible, but everywhere. Just because I cannot see it, doesn't mean I can't believe it."

Walking back over to the Christmas tree in the middle of his room, Yami stripped the tree of its lights, a smile coming to his face. "You know, I think this Christmas thing, it's not as tricky as it seems and why should they have all the fun? It should belong to anyone. Not anyone, in fact, but me! Why, I could make a Christmas tree. And there's no reason I can find, I couldn't handle Christmas time."

Yami twirled the lights around an electric chair that sat in the corner of his room and turned the switch on making the lights shine blinding colors throughout the room. He looked back over at Zero and grinned.

"I bet I could improve it too and that's exactly what I'll do!"

A deep chuckle escaping his lips, Yami almost sprinted over to the window in his room before throwing it open and leaning out to peer out into the crowd of citizens that were all chatting restlessly outside his gate.

"Eureka!" Yami shouted, catching everyone's attention. "This year, Christmas will be ours!"

"Oh boy," Yugi muttered to himself over the cheering of the crowd. "That can't be good."

Saying a quick goodbye to his friends, Yugi made his way to the front door through the numerous creatures and slipped into the house. He turned only to be embraced by a pair of strong arms. For a moment, Yugi wanted to lean into the warmth of the other's body. That was until he remembered why he had rushed into the house in the first place.

"Yami?" Yugi spoke softly.

"Hmmm?" Yami hummed in content. He had missed Yugi so much in the past few hours and was beyond happy that his little one was letting him hold him. Maybe there was hope.

"What did you mean about Christmas? About it being ours?" Yugi inquired curiously.

Yami reluctantly released Yugi and pulled back to look down into the soft purple eyes. "I decided we'd have a Christmas this year instead of Halloween."

Yugi tilted his head. "But why? This_ is_ Halloween Town."

Yami shrugged. "I'm tired of the same thing, Yugi. It's time for some change. Now let's get down to the town hall so that we can prepare."

"But Yami, I had a pre—"

Yami raised a finger to Yugi's lips to silence any further protests. "Don't worry so much, little one. It's going to work out wonderfully! Especially with you helping me."

Yugi bit his lip. The smile on Yami's face was bright and genuine. Yami_ really_ wanted this. And, more importantly, Yami wanted_ his_ help.

Maybe Yami was right. Maybe he was just worrying to much. Besides, what could possibly go wrong?

"Alright, Yami."

The smile on the other's face widened and Yami bent down to place a chaste kiss on Yugi's forehead making the smaller blush a dark scarlet.

"Thank you, Yugi." Yami took the other's hand in his. "Now, let's go."

…TBC…

Yuri: Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Reviews are appreciated as always.

Next time will be the appearance of two familiar characters!


	6. Kidnap Mr Sandy Claws

Yuri: Hi guys! So, yeah, quick update for this story this time. I'm tryin to get it finished as soon as possible so I can focus on my other stuff. And, just so you all know, the citizens of Halloween Town refer to Santa Claus as 'Sandy Claws.' Just so no one thinks I'm just a retard who likes to spell it that way. Sorry if this is not my best work. Look for an update of Disturbia soon as well.

Enjoy!

...Kidnap Mr. Sandy Claws...

Nervous violet eyes glanced side to side as Yugi slowly inched closer to Ryou who was waiting with him in a line of about three dozens creatures inside of the town hall. True, Yugi had been here for some time but he didn't think that he was quite comfortable with everyone in Halloween Town. At least, not yet. The purpose of this line was for Yami to assign each creature a job to help prepare for Christmas. Luckily, they had been near the front so they wouldn't have to wait too long. Dr. Valon, who Yugi had recognized as the person who had given Yami all of the experiment equipment was now currently engaged in a conversation with the ruby-eyed youth. Yugi leaned forward slightly in an attempt to hear the two.

"Dr. Valon. I'm glad you could make it," Yami greeted before picking up a book and opening it to a page that was littered with several reindeers. "I need some of these."

Dr. Valon squinted at the odd portrait, a smug smile coming to his face. "Their construction should be exceedingly simple, I think."

Kaiba, who was standing beside Yami, smirked. "How horrible our Christmas will be."

"No," Yami corrected quickly. "How jolly!"

"Oh," Kaiba replied, uncertainty seeping into his voice. A commotion in the front caught his attention, a gasp escaping his lips when he spotted three very familiar figures. Noticing that Yami was still engrossed in a conversation with the doctor, Kaiba walked towards the entrance door, a harsh glare painting itself on his face as he eyed the newcomers suspiciously.

"What are _you _doing here?" the mayor inquired, the disdain evident.

A tall girl with flowing red hair and bright green eyes smiled. She was a ghoul, just like a brother. "Yami sent for us," she said.

"Specifically," the white-haired demon beside her smirked.

"By name," A tan vampire behind them clarified.

Kaiba scowled at the three before him but nevertheless led them to the front where Yami had just bid goodbye to Dr. Valon.

"Yami, it's Oogie's boys," Kaiba said, ignoring the snarl from the red-haired girl.

Yami turned to the new arrivals, a small smirk on his face. "Ah! Halloween's finest. Serenity, Bakura, and Marik." Yami beckoned the three to come closer. "The job I have for you is top secret. It requires craft, cunning, mischief—"

"And we thought you didn't like us Yami," Serenity purred.

Yami resisted the urge to roll his eyes, instead just continuing where he had left off. "Absolutely no one is to know about this, not a soul," Yami warned and his next words came out in a whisper meant only for the three in front of him to hear. Kaiba, who had taken the hint, leaned off to the side until Yami finished.

"And one more thing," Yami said, his voice raising just enough for everyone in the room to hear. "Leave that no account Oogie Boogie out of this!"

Serenity smirked. "Whatever you say, Yami."

"Of course Yami," Marik bowed.

"Wouldn't dream of it Yami," Bakura added, a devious smile appearing on his face.

With a quick wave of the hand, Yami dismissed the three, not failing to notice the suggestive wink Bakura tossed in Ryou's direction, the petite doll glaring at him in return.

The moment the three had stepped outside, the scurried off to the graveyard until they reached an abandoned house in the back. Once they were all standing in front of the house, Serenity turned to the other two, sinister smile lighting up her pretty features.

"Kidnap Mr. Sandy Claws?" Serenity said, repeating what Yami had told them earlier.

"I want to do it," Bakura demanded.

Marik shook his head. "Let's draw straws!"

Serenity groaned, opening the door to the house before wandering off to the corner of the main room. "Yami said we should work together."

"And what do you suggest?" Bakura inquired, leaning up against the wall, the shadows hiding some of his features.

Serenity turned to face him, her eyes shining with excitement. "I say we kidnap the Sandy Claws, lock him up real tight. Throw away the key and then turn off all the lights. First, we're going to set some bait inside a nasty trap and wait. When he comes a-sniffing we will snap the trap and close the gate."

Marik laughed, the sickening sound resonating throughout the dimly-lit room. "Wait, I've got a better plan to catch this big red lobster man. Let's pop him in a boiling pot and when he's done we'll butter him up."

Bakura tilted his head in thought before forming his own plan. "I say we kidnap the Sandy Claws, throw him in a box. Bury him for ninety years then see if he talks."

Watching Serenity pull out several daggers from a drawer, Marik voiced a new plan. "I say that we take a cannon, aim it at his door and then knock three times and when he answers, Sandy Claws will be no more."

Green eyes narrowed profusely at the platinum-blonde vampire. "You're so stupid; think now, if we blow him up into smithereens, we may lose some pieces and then Yami will beat us black and green."

Serenity listened intently for any movement from the lower floor, knowing very well that Oogie Boogie was eavesdropping on their conversation. A smile reappeared on her face. "We're his little henchmen and we take our job with pride. We do our best to please him and stay on his good side," she said to no one in particular.

Walking over to a closet to pull out a few more weapons, Serenity scowled when Bakura and Marik began to toss knives at each other, causing a small disturbance. "I wish my cohorts weren't so dumb," she whispered to herself but loud enough for the other two to hear.

"I'm not the dumb one," Bakura scoffed.

"You're no fun," the vampire teased.

Serenity growled deep in her throat. "Shut up!"

"Make me," Bakura hissed.

Serenity ignored the comment before walking up to the two. "I've got something, listen now. This one is real good, you'll see. We'll send a present to his door upon there'll be a note to read. Now, in the box we'll wait and hide until his curiosity entices him to look inside and then we'll have him!"

Marik nodded in agreement but Bakura still wasn't convinced. "I say we kidnap the Sandy Claws, beat him with a stick. Lock him for ninety years, see what makes him tick."

Serenity passed their weapons out and shook her head. "Kidnap the Sandy Claws, chop him into bits. Mr. Oogie Boogie is sure to get his kicks."

Marik shrugged. "Kidnap the Sandy Claws, see what we will see."

"Lock him in a cage and then throw away the key," Bakura added, the entire room vibrating with insane laughter as the three made their exit, following the directions that Yami had given them that led to the forest. Once they closed the door, a dark shadow appeared on one of the walls, the light casting a crease where a smirk had appeared.

"Sandy Claws, huh?" said the menacing voice before disappearing into the shadows again.

* * *

"Yugi," Yami purred, the moment he laid eyes upon the small doll. Taking the other's hand in his, Yami led Yugi to the far wall, Ryou following in suit while at the same time keeping his distance from the two tri-colored haired youths.

"I need your help more than anyone's," Yami said, approaching a small chest and burying his face inside of it as he searched for another portrait. Yugi, who had, at this point, decided that it would be best to tell Yami about his premonition, bit his lip nervously.

"You certainly do, Yami." Yugi looked down at the ground, swallowing the lump in his throat. "I had a terrible vision."

"That's splendid!" Yami replied, only partly listening to Yugi's words as he began to toss irrelevant objects from the chest in order to find the one he needed.

"It was about your Christmas," Yugi continued, hoping to clarify his previous statement. "There was smoke and fire!"

Yami looked up, surprise shining in his alluring ruby orbs. "That's not _my_ Christmas. My Christmas is filled with laughter and joy. And—" Yami pulled out a portrait of himself dressed in his usual black suit and then lowered a second page, which changed his attire into one that Yugi recognized as Santa Claus' clothing. "This," Yami finished, pointing to the picture. "My sandy claws outfit. I want you to make it."

Yugi's eyes went wide the moment he realized that the other was just not getting it. "Yami, please listen to me! It's going to be a disaster!" Yugi practically shouted.

Yami smiled at Yugi's exasperated look. "How could it be? Just follow the pattern. Ryou can help you. This part's red, the trim is white."

Yugi shook his head vehemently. How dense could Yami be!?

"It's a mistake, Yami," Yugi said, pleading for the other to just listen.

"Now don't be modest!" Yami assured. "Who else is clever enough to make my Sandy Claws outfit?"

"Next," Yami heard Kaiba announce, knowing that he had to hurry if he wanted to give everyone their job tonight. Brushing Yugi's bangs to the side, Yami bent down and placed a soft kiss on his forehead. "I have every confidence in you, Yugi," Yami said before lightly shoving Yugi back in Ryou's direction. "I'll see you back at the house tonight."

Yugi watched as Yami began to talk to someone else, a look of utter helplessness in his usually bright eyes. "But it seems wrong to me," Yugi whispered to himself. "Very wrong."

Noticing the distress in his young friend's face, Ryou grabbed Yugi's hand, deciding that he would walk him home since Yami was obviously going to be busy for the night. Yugi let himself be dragged out of the town hall, wishing more than anything that Yami would just come home with him. To just _be _with him.

About an hour after Yugi had left, Yami was brought from one of his conversations by several voices calling out for him.

"We got him! We got him!" Serenity said as she approached Yami, gesturing to the large black bag that Bakura and Marik were dragging behind them.

Yami's eyes doubled with excitement. "Open it up!" he ordered, walking up to the bag. "Quickly!"

Bakura and Marik did as told, though reluctantly, and Yami nearly fell over in shock when a rather large pink rabbit hopped out of the bag, a basket of eggs in one hand, and a yellow slash across its shoulders that read, 'Easter.'

Yami looked at the rabbit, his face twisting in confusion. "That's not Sandy Claws."

"It isn't?" Serenity inquired, slightly disappointed.

"Who is it?" Bakura snapped suspiciously.

The pink animal bounced up to Kaiba and began to sniff the brunet, who only snarled in response, causing the bunny to squeak and jump right back into the bag. Yami's confusion was immediately replaced with annoyance and frustration.

"Not Sandy claws," Yami repeated, motioning towards the shaking bag. "Take him back!"

Serenity frowned. "We followed your instructions."

"We went through the door," Marik added, a small hint of defiance seeping through his tone.

"Which door?" Yami growled. "There's more than one!" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a sugar cookie decorated like a Christmas tree. "Sandy Claws is behind the door shaped like this!"

Serenity's expression instantly hardened as she walked over and slapped Marik upside the head. "I told you!"

Marik retaliated by shoving Bakura to the side. "And I told you!"

In a blink of the eye, Bakura had tackled Marik to the ground. Yami, at this point, lost all of his patience. His skin immediately vanished into thin air, revealing nothing but a scowling skeleton. Yami leaned over the two and pulled at his mouth with his fingers, stretching the corners of his mouth until his grin was twisted and horrifying before releasing a loud growl that resonated from his throat, bringing all movement in the room to a screeching halt.

Once he had realized that he had everyone's full and undivided attention, Yami's skin reappeared and he walked over to the shivering bag, leaning down gently to poke at the rabbit inside. "I'm very sorry for the inconvenience sir," Yami apologized, shooting another glare at the three creatures beside him.

"Take him home first!" Yami demanded, pointing to the bag. "And be careful with Sandy Claws when you fetch him. Treat him nicely."

Serenity nodded while Bakura and Marik dragged the bag back to the door. "You got it. We'll get it right next time. Don't you worry," she said and then, when they were all back outside, added with a smirk: "We'll treat him _real_ nice."

* * *

_To Be Continued..._

* * *

Reviews are appreciated as always.


	7. Oogie Boogie

Hi guys! Here's your next chapter. For those of you who have actually seen the movie, I decided to keep Oogie Boogie as he is instead of making him into a character. So there's that visual image for you guys. For those of you who have not seen the movie, I still describe what he looks like but its really difficult to do. Anyways enjoy! Make sure to vote in my new poll! Especially if you like this story. Thanks everyone.

* * *

Chapter 7: Oogie Boogie

* * *

All throughout Halloween Town, creatures of your wildest imagination were hard at work, preparing for Christmas. A new air of enthusiasm, unfamiliar to most, buzzed through the sky. It provoked excitement, enticed noise, and manifested joy. It was a sensation that bubbled in the core of Halloween Town and everyone bathed in the new feeling. Everyone but Yugi.

The violet-eyed doll in question sat solemnly at a table out in the city square with Ryou as he attempted to sew together Yami's new outfit. Malik and Jou were busy a few tables away making toys, if that's what you could call them. Yugi watched the scene of busy creatures with sad eyes. This was wrong. Everything about it screamed disaster. But what could he do? He had already tried to warn Yami. At this point, all he could do was hope that his premonition was wrong.

"Is everything alright, Yugi?"

Yugi turned to look at Ryou, the doe-colored eyes filled with concern. "I guess so." Yugi sighed. "I just feel like this is a bad idea."

"Why?" Ryou inquired curiously.

Yugi thought about this. Maybe he should tell Ryou about what he saw. Ryou seemed sensible enough. Certainly not as dense as everybody else in this world. "Well," the smaller doll began. "I was outside the other night and I—"

"Hey you two!" Jou interjected, a wide grin on his face. "Isn't this exciting?"

Yugi flashed the ghoul a weak smile. "You could say that."

Malik appeared beside Jou. "Yeah, making Christmas is fantastic. It's ours this time."

Ryou nodded. "And won't the children be surprised."

Yugi sighed at the others evident excitement. Was it really fair for him to take it away? He didn't even really belong here, right? The thought brought another sigh to his lips. If he didn't belong here then he certainly didn't belong with Yami, the handsome and kind creature who he was falling for all too fast. He tried to push those feelings away for he knew they could never be returned. He would have to go home eventually so why was he setting himself up to be hurt? That, he didn't know.

"Yugi?"

His name stirred him from his thoughts and he looked up to see Jou extending a hand for him to take. "Did you want to go and see how everything is going?"

Yugi tilted his head. Maybe it would do him some good to see that everything was going according to plan. So with a small nod and small smile, Yugi clasped on to Jou's hand and followed the blonde through the city square.

He was led to a table of vampires who were currently making a stuffed animal. Yugi frowned when he noticed the glare on the toy, along with a trail of red paint seeping out of the mouth. It was really…_disturbing_.

"Time to give them something fun," One of the vampires said to another. "They'll talk about for years to come."

Jou grinned at the group. "Let's have a cheer from everyone! It's time to party!"

Malik chuckled from behind them. He glanced down at the many boxes of presents that sat on the ground. "Snakes and mice get wrapped up so nice with spider legs and pretty bows. With all our tricks we're making Christmastime."

Ryou looked up from the table and smiled when he noticed a familiar figure striding down the stairs of the rather large house to his right. He turned around and spotted the small group a few meters away. "Here comes Yami!" Ryou grinned.

Yugi's head snapped up to see Yami walking out of the gate in front of his house, a beautiful smile on his face. Yugi almost melted. He watched as Yami scanned the working citizens until it landed on him. Before Yugi knew it he was enveloped in a strong embrace full of excitement and…something else he couldn't describe.

"I don't believe what's happening to me," Yami whispered into Yugi's ear. "My hopes, my dreams, my fantasies!"

Yugi could only smile. "I'm happy for you, Yami."

Yami tightened his embrace around the small doll at the sweet words. "I'm happy that I can share it with you."

Before Yugi could so much as blush, someone pulled Yami aside leaving Yugi to stare after them with slight disappointment written over his gentle features. He, along with Jou, Malik, and Ryou, followed Yami to a table where a demon was beating at a dead animal with a rolling pin. Yugi felt his stomach turn violently at the sight.

The small demon turned to Yami with a smile. "Won't they be impressed? I am a genius! See how I transformed this old rat into a most delightful hat."

And he did just that. Yugi's face lost all of its color at that point. Yami looked at the object in front of him thoughtfully. "Hmmm, my compliments from me to you on this most intriguing hat. Consider though this substitute: a bat in place of this old rat."

The demon nodded at the suggestion before taking off. It was then that Yami noticed a corpse a few inches away holding a dead turtle in his grasp. Yami immediately shook his head. "No, no, no, now that's all wrong. This thing will never make a present. It's been dead for much too long. Try something fresher, something pleasant. Try again, don't give up."

Yugi watched worriedly as Yami went table to table giving both criticism and praise on the objects that were supposed to be given as gifts. Gifts that Yugi deemed a safety hazard anyways. The amethyst-eyed doll sighed. He had to try to get through to Yami before things got out of hand. And he needed to do it quickly.

-------------

"You don't look like yourself, Yami. Not at all," Yugi spoke softly as he made the finishing touches on Yami's Santa Claus outfit. He had to admit that even though it looked quite ridiculous, Yami was still as beautiful as ever, the slightly tanned face shining with excitement and joy.

"Isn't that wonderful?" Yami replied, watching with intent eyes as Yugi continued to pull a needle in and out of the white cuff around his wrist. "It couldn't be more wonderful."

Yugi quickly shook his head. "But you're the pumpkin king?" he reasoned, trying his best to get the other to see it his way.

Yami chuckled. "Not anymore. And I feel so much better now."

Yugi sighed, his gaze drifting down to the floor. "Yami, I know you think something's missing but—"

"Ow!"

"Sorry!" Yugi apologized quickly while Yami brought his pricked finger to his lips. It was then that a flash of realization swept through those ruby eyes.

"You're right! Something is missing!" Yami gasped and Yugi's face instantly lit up with a smile. That was before Yami walked over to a mirror and gazed into it thoughtfully. "But what? I got the coat, the boots, the—"

"Yami! Yami!"

Both tri-colored youths turned to see Serenity, Bakura, and Marik approaching the middle of the city square. Yami took off at lightening fast speed leaving Yugi to watch from afar as the rest of the citizens of Halloween Town encircled the three youths who were all dragging a rather large bad behind them.

"This time we got him for sure!" Serenity chimed. "He sure is big, Yami."

"And heavy!" Marik muttered disdainfully as he loosened the ropes around the bag and opened it. Almost immediately a rather large man popped out, his snow-white beard littered with old lollipops and his red hat covering his eyes. A round of gasps floated around the entire city square, as well as a strangled noise that escaped Yugi's lips.

Yami's eyes lit up like flames in excitement. "Sandy Claws in person!" he gasped, reaching a hand out to shake the old man's hand. "What a pleasure to meet you." Yami paused, lifting up the other's hands and examining them slowly. "Wha-?! Why you have hands! You don't have claws at all!"

The red-clothed man quickly brought his hands up to move his hat away from his eyes before his vision settled upon the dozens of creatures that entrapped him. "Where am I?" he asked, still slight dazed.

"Surprised, aren't you?" Yami grinned. "I knew you would be. You don't need to have another worry about Christmas this year."

Santa snapped his eyes onto Yami's form at this. "What—?"

Yami leaned over to pat the man on the back. "Consider this a vacation, Sandy. A reward," the crimson-eyed youth clarified. "It's your turn to take it easy."

Santa's eyes went wide, his head shaking back and forth in confusion. "B-but there must be some mistake!"

Yami though had already turned his attention the three that had brought Santa Claus here. "See that's he comfortable."

Serenity nodded before motioning for Bakura and Marik to close the bag back up. Yami's eyes scanned the man once more before he gasped. "Just a second!" he reached over and snatched the red hat from Santa's head. "Of course! That's what I'm missing!"

"B-but y-you j-just can't—"

Santa's stuttered protests were immediately silenced as Bakura and Marik shoved him in the black bag and tied it close once more.

Yugi's eyes were still wide and teary from the display he had just witnessed. He glanced at the three creatures leaving with Santa Claus before his gaze fell to the ground. He quickly brought his hands up and dug his face into his open palms. "This is worse than I thought! Much worse!" He snapped his head up when a solution surfaced to his mind. "I know!" Yugi murmured before taking off in the direction of Yami's house.

A little further away, Oogie's henchmen leaned against the gates that lead out to the graveyard, pondering on their next course of action.

"Me on vacation?!" Santa protested loudly from his confinement. "On Christmas Eve?!

"Where are we taking him?" Marik asked, ignoring the man's outraged cries.

"To Oogie Boogie, of course," Bakura snickered. "There's no place in the world more comfortable than that. And Yami did say to make him comfortable, didn't he?"

Serenity grinned. "Yes, he did."

"So, what are we waiting for?" Marik laughed and, with that, the three disappeared into the night dragging the struggling man behind them the entire way.

-------------

"Don't do this!"

Santa's pleas went unheard as Bakura and Marik tied the man's hands behind his back and pushed him back so that he was lying on his back on a flat platform. "Hope you enjoy your stay," Bakura jeered, both he and Marik making their exit.

Suddenly, the lights went out and the entire room lit up in neon green and orange colors, highlighting the several skeletons that lay discarded on the floor.

"Well, well, well, what have we here?"

Santa turned, releasing a fearful gasp when his eyes landed on a large figure that seemed to be made out of a thick off-white material. It had no eyes, two hollow sockets tainting the menacing face instead. A cynical smile fixed itself on the figure's face, an endless black abyss clearly visible when the creature opened its mouth. Dozens of stitched sowed itself up and down the obese creature's sides, arms, and legs. The figure circled the man lying on the platform before breaking out into insane laughter.

"Sandy Claws, huh? Oh, I'm really scared. So you're the one everybody's talking about?" Santa grunted in surprise when the creature reached down and grabbed him by the collar before feeling himself being yanked in the sitting position so that the figure could get a better look at him.

Another fit of laughter resonated from the dark abyss that was the creature's mouth. "You're joking! You're joking! I can't believe my eyes! You're joking me, you got to be. This can't be the right guy. He's ancient. He's ugly. I don't know which is worse. I might just split a seam now if I don't die laughing first."

Pushing the older man back onto the platform, the creature reached over and grabbed a pair of dice. "You'd better pay attention now cause I am the Boogie Man and if you aren't shaking then there's something very wrong cause this may be your last time now, I don't think you'll live that long."

"Release me now or you must face the dire consequences," Santa said, trying his hardest to keep the fear out of his voice. "The children are expecting me so please, come to your senses!"

Oogie turned to him, his face twisted in amusement. "You're joking! You're joking! I can't believe my ears! Would someone shut this fella up? I'm drowning in my tears. It's funny, I'm laughing. You really are too much and now, with your permission, I'm going to do my stuff."

Santa's widened his eyes. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going do the best I can," Oogie laughed before hooking a long chain onto the binds around Santa's wrists. He walked over to a lever and placed his hand on the tip. An insane grin came to his face. "The sound of rolling dice to me is music in the air cause I'm a gambling Boogie Man, although I don't play fair. It's much more fun, I must confess, when lives are on the line. Not mine, of course, but yours, old boy. Now that'll be just fine." In one swift motion, Oogie pulled down on the lever, the chain attached to Santa pulling the older man high up in the air.

Santa looked down at the ground below him, an overwhelming amount of fear bubbling in the pit of his stomach. He turned to look at the grinning creature. "Release me now or you will have to answer for this heinous act."

The demand resulted in a loud scoff from Oogie. "Oh, brother, you're something. You put me in a spin. You really aren't comprehending the position that you're in. It's hopeless, you're finished! You haven't got a prayer cause I'm Mr. Oogie Boogie." He smiled before walking to the exit. He tossed a dark glance at the man behind his shoulder and grinned. "And you ain't going nowhere."

* * *

_To Be Continued..._

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Reviews/comments appreciated as always.


	8. Yugi's Song

Hey guys! Wow, thanks for all the reviews! Here's the next chapter. Sorry its not that long but hey, we're almost done with the story! Only like 3 chapters left or so. Anyways enjoy! And please vote in my new poll!

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Chapter 8: Yugi's Song

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As inconspicuously as possible, Yugi made his way to the center of the city square where the water fountain sat patiently. He was grateful that the majority of the citizens were fully focused on Yami, who was still dressed in that ridiculous red suit. Yugi just couldn't understand how in the world Yami managed to still look gorgeous in it though. It was beyond his comprehension, at this point.

Discreetly, Yugi took a small green bottle from his pocket that he had found in one of the cabinets back at Yami's house. He had stumbled upon the various containers and bottles when he had searched the house the other day out of boredom. He distinctly remembered reading all of the instructions and purposes for the liquids on the back of the bottles so it wasn't hard for him to find the green one that he held in his hands at the moment.

Yugi uncapped the bottle. "This should stop Yami," he murmured to himself as he poured the entire contents of the bottle into the fountain, raising a hand up to hold his nose as he did so since the odor was pretty putrid. Accomplishing this small feat, Yugi quickly disposed of any evidence before slipping back into the crowd, a satisfied smile running across his features.

"Are you ready, Yami?" Kaiba inquired from above as the crimson-eyed youth settled himself into the wooden sled. Yugi shot a glance at the two pairs of reindeers—or rather the skeletons of two pairs of reindeers—before focusing back on the conversation.

"All set." Yami winked.

"Alright then," the brunet replied, turning his attention back to the crowd of eager citizens.

Yugi's smiled widened when a thick fog began to spew out from the fountain, swiftly covering the city square with its opaque clouds. Perfect.

"Wait, what's going on?" Jou asked, his amber eyes scanning the surrounding fog with suspicion.

Yami turned at this, his eyes growing wide as he examined the thickness of the fog around him. He could barely see a thing. And it was only getting worse.

"No! The reindeer won't be able to see!" a vampire exclaimed.

"That means Yami can't go though!" another creature shouted.

But Yami was no longer listening. He had been so excited for this. All he ever wanted was to be able to experience something new and now his only chance was taken away, ripped from right under his nose. He could only slump back against his seat as his eyes filled with disappointment. All is dreams…all his fantasies…

Through the fog, Yugi was able to slightly see Yami's stunning red eyes and it was all he could do not to feel guilty. This was for the best after all. He couldn't let Yami go through this whole Christmas thing. It would only end in disaster. But the facts didn't cheer him up as he continued to gaze at the one he loved, fully aware that he was the cause for the distant and saddened look in his eyes.

Yugi bowed his head in guilt so he didn't even notice when Zero floated past him and approached Yami.

"No, not now Zero," Yami said when he felt something nuzzle his hand. However, his pet didn't stop his prodding and barking, causing Yami to snap his eyes in annoyance to the transparent dog, the red-orange nose almost blinding him.

…Wait a minute.

"Zero!" Yami exclaimed, the life quickly seeping back into his eyes. "I never noticed how bright your nose was! All the better to light my way!"

"What?!" Yugi gasped when Yami's words reached his ears but his own voice was drowned out by the surrounding cheers.

"That's great!" Ryou applauded. "Now you can go!"

"No!" Yugi said but his protest was once again unheard.

"Then I'm off!" Yami smiled, peering out into the crowd of citizens in an attempt to find his little one. But the fog around him prevented him from seeing the doll so, with a small sigh, he snapped the small whip in his hand with a flick of the wrist. A moment later, Zero was at the front of the reindeers, the sled rising off the ground and gliding into the sky. Yugi was absolutely mortified.

"Wait, Yami! No!"

But it was too late and all Yugi could do was watch as the sled disappeared into the night sky, his hand clutched tightly onto the fabric over his heart. The violet jewels glazed over with worry, darkening the usual bright eyes in the process. He barely noticed when the crowd around him began to disperse, his gaze never faltering from the black clouds that hung over his head like a curse. "Goodbye, Yami," he murmured softly as he finally, though still reluctant, lowered his eyes back to the ground. "My dearest Yami." He sighed. "Oh, how I hope my premonition is wrong."

Strolling cautiously by the excited citizens, Yugi made his way to the graveyard. He needed to be alone and clear his mind of all these troubling thoughts. And that feat would surely be impossible if he stayed in the city square.

His hands gripped on to the bars that made up the fence encircling the cemetery, his eyes closing softly as he reminisced on the past few days. "I sense there's something in the wind that feels like tragedy's at hand," he whispered to himself, gazing back up to the clouds that Yami had vanished behind, a sad smile pulling at his lips. "And though I'd like to stand by him…I can't shake this feeling that I have."

A sudden noise from the shadows beside him caused Yugi to jump with a quiet shriek, his eyes searching frantically for the source of his distress. He felt like slapping himself when a small kitten jumped out of the corner and crawled up to him, rubbing his leg in a soothing manner. Yugi slowly lowered himself to the ground,

The kitten almost immediately crawled onto his lap, nuzzling the top of his head into Yugi's outstretched hand. The purring sound resonating from the cat's entire being was enough to lift up Yugi's spirits if only for a second. Yugi let himself fall back against the fence, his head resting comfortably on the cold bars supporting him. He smiled slightly when the wide black eyes of the kitten locked onto his. "You know, the worst is just around the bend," Yugi murmured to the animal in his lap, a pang of hurt stabbing at his heart when his thoughts returned back to Yami, his friend, his crush, his _love_.

He held the animal in his arms closer to his chest, his arms wrapping around it protectively. The cat only looked up at him with a comforting glint in its eyes in response to the affectionate gesture. "Do you think he notices my feelings for him?" Yugi asked the small feline, not at all caring that he was conversing with a cat. A long sigh escaped his lips when the cat purred, thumping his head against the fence in an effort to think. "And will he see how much he means to me?" Yugi exhaled sadly, shaking his head slowly. "I think it's not to be."

Another purr, a small signal for the doll to continue. Yugi offered the feline a pet on the head for its kindness before reverting back to his previous train of thought. "What will become of my dear friend? Where will his actions lead us then?" Yugi bit his lip nervously, the worry he felt for Yami overwhelming his system.

He glanced at the kitten with a small frown. "And will we ever…end up together?" Yugi shook his head sadly. "No, I think not. It's never to become," he sniffled back a sob, "for I am not the one."

* * *

--

* * *

A boy of six jumped out of his bed with a small 'eep' when the roof above him thumped harshly. Shaggy blond hair covered his eyes, completely disheveled from his pillow, as he scanned the ceiling for anything out of the ordinary. That's when a wide smile lit up his face.

"Santa!" he cheered excitedly as he scurried out of his bed, his small feet landing on the floor with a small thud. Quietly, he creaked open his bedroom door and wandered down the stairs, making sure to walk on his toes so that he didn't wake up his parents.

When he had arrived at the bottom step, he quickly surveyed the living room, his eyes widening in awe when he saw a hunched figure over his tree clothed completely in red. Hesitantly, the boy tiptoed over to the figure, tilting his head when he noticed how skinny Santa was.

"Santa?" the boy uttered, his breath catching in his throat when the man turned around. Well, he certainly didn't look like he did in the story books.

Yami stopped, dropping the present in his hand to the floor by the tree as he turned to meet curious green eyes. "Merry Christmas!" Yami greeted with a bright smile as he peered down at the blond boy. "And what is your name?"

Not completely sure what to do, the small boy looked down nervously, fidgeting with the hem of his pajama shirt. Yami noticed the boy's uneasiness and grinned.

"That's alright," Yami said, turning around to reach in the large red sack behind him. "I got a special present for you anyways."

The boy eagerly accepted the gift in the other's outstretched hands, his eyes scanning the silver-colored box with interest. He looked back up just in time to see the red-eyed man—maybe it was Santa's son or something—disappearing back up the chimney.

Without a moment's hesitation, the boy ripped open the box, his eyes landing on the thing inside of it with slight confusion. He only vaguely heard the sound of his parent's footsteps and didn't even turn when they had stopped right behind him.

"What did Santa give you this year, Tommy?"

Slowly, the boy turned around, emptying the contents of the box on the floor only to reveal a small duck toy that started laughing menacingly before snapping its head up to the boy's shocked parents, a small glint in its fake eyes.

* * *

--

* * *

"Police station," the brown-haired man at the counter recited into the black phone. He sat up in his chair as the sounds of screams resonated through the receiver. "Attacked by Christmas toys? Hmm, that's the third call we've received tonight. Okay, just lock your doors and stay inside. We'll take care of this."

* * *

To Be Continued...

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God, Yami's in trouble now. I promise to have the next chapter up soon. Review please! Or not! :)


	9. Save Me

Hi guys! Here's a quick little update. I know its short and I'm sorry if it seems rushed. There's only one more chapter in this story than its done! Anyways, I hope you enjoy nonetheless.

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Chapter 8: Save Me

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Yugi watched with horror through the water fountain—which apparently also worked like a crystal ball, allowing him and the other citizens of Halloween Town to see Yami travel to every house and deliver gifts. He also saw how each present retaliated and attacked the first person—adult or child—who went near it.

Now that it seemed like Yami was almost done, Yugi had to watch as his sled was shot out of the sky by what looked like military tanks. Were things going so bad that all of this was necessary? Yugi thought about that for a second. A Santa imposter breaking in to every house and delivering toys that tried to kill people.

Okay, so maybe it was necessary but that certainly didn't mean that Yugi was happy with the result. The moment that Yami disappeared from view, Yugi, along with some of the other anxious citizens, completely lost it, tears running down his face as he thought about the possibility if Yami survived or not.

Well, technically, Yami was already dead, right? So, he couldn't die…right?

Deciding not to leave Yami's life, and the future of Christmas, up to fate, Yugi turned and stalked over to Jou, who was in the middle of an existential crisis, with determination lighting up the violet-colored orbs.

"Where'd they take Santa Claus?" Yugi asked him, the blond raising a confused eyebrow as a reply.

"Uh, don't you know?"

Yugi looked bemused. "Why would I know?"

"Well, the last time I talked to my sister, she said that she would take him to Yami's house…" Jou trailed off, the amber eyes turning into flames. "Damn it! That girl is always getting herself involved with the wrong crowd!"

"Jou!" Yugi shouted, startling the ghoul. "Where is he?!"

The blond released a slow, drawn-out sigh. "Serenity probably took him to Oogie's house." His eyes widened. "Wait, you're not thinking about going there yourself, are you Yug'?"

"I have to—"

"Are you nuts?!" Jou exclaimed. "That dude's crazy! If he catches you, there's no telling what he'll do."

"Jou, he's the only one that can fix this!" Yugi said, his tone low. "And I need my Yami back!"

Jou looked shocked than smug. "Your Yami?"

"Yes," Yugi huffed. "_My _Yami. I love him and I need him back here with me!"

"Alright!" Jou said, putting his hands up in defense. "Okay, I get it. You love him and I would be some lousy friend if I didn't help you find Sandy Claws. So, are we going?"

Yugi's face lit up like the sun. "Oh, thank you, Jou! Thank you!" He smiled once more before his face molded back into a mask of seriousness. "So, which way?"

* * *

Yami trudged through the forest that he had landed in after he had been shot down, Zero at his side and presents strewn across the snowy ground. He red outfit, the one that Yugi had worked so hard on, was now in shreds and Yami had no choice but to strip the clothes off, revealing his usual black suit underneath.

He thought that everything was going great. So, what happened? Why did everything go so wrong?

"Oh, what have I done, Zero?" he murmured, his eyes at a downcast. "How could I be so blind? Yugi was right. He was right all along and I…just didn't listen to him." Yami groaned, finding a random rock next to a tree and instantly plopping down on it.

"I never intended all this madness," Yami sighed. "And nobody really understood…how could they? That all I ever wanted was to bring them something great." He sighed again, propping his elbows on his knees so that he could rest his face in his outstretched palms. "Why does nothing turn out as it should?"

Zero barked, causing Yami to glance up at the floating dog and scan once more the broken toys that lay about. "Well, what the heck!" he muttered. "I went and did my best and, by god, I really tasted something swell and for a moment, why, I even touched the sky and at least I left some stories they can tell—"

Yami paused. It was in the moment that he realized just how…good he really felt. He might not have done everything he had wanted to—hell, he might have been shot down—but that didn't cover up just how much he had accomplished. He had gotten the chance to experience something new, something beyond his wildest dreams. And it was amazing.

All his self-pity melted into the snow, his chest filling up with a warm sensation that made him feel alive again. He looked at Zero, a wicked smile pulling at his lips. "For the first time since I don't remember when, I feel just like my old self again," he proclaimed. "And I, Yami, the Pumpkin King…that's right! I am the Pumpkin King." Yami laughed, jumping up from his sitting position and landing feet first in the snow.

"And I just can't wait until next Halloween 'cause I've got some new ideas that will really make them scream and I'm really going to give it all my might. And, as soon as we get back home, I'm finally going to tell Yugi I love him with all my heart and soul…" Yami stopped when he glanced back at Zero and noticed the red hat that was hanging from the dog's mouth.

"Sandy Claws," Yami gasped, turning his gaze to the opening among the trees ahead of him, the tree with a pumpkin door carved into it visible from where he stood. "Hmm, I hope there's still time to set things right," he mumbled to himself before sprinting to the door, Zero hot on his trail.

* * *

Yugi shot Jou an appreciative look as he snuck past Marik and Bakura, who were, at the moment, too infuriated by Jou and the blond's definition of a good 'distraction' that they didn't even notice when he had disappeared into the room that he concluded must be the place where they were holding Santa Claus.

Putting Ryou's demonstration into good use, Yugi pulled at the thread connecting his wrist to his hand until they were completely separated. He quickly reassured himself that he was fine and that there was no reason to faint by chancing a glance at his arm and spotting the crisp leaves that stuck out of his wrist. He didn't feel anything at all. It actually felt kind of…cool.

Deciding to dwell on the coolness of his one-handedness later, Yugi looked at the detached hand on the ground and followed Ryou's instructions, mentally directing the hand to sneak under the crack under the door and unlock it. He almost squeaked in excitement—or horror—when his hand did exactly that. Hearing the click of the door from the other side, Yugi quickly snuck into the dimly-lit room, finding his hand and quickly taking out the thread and needle behind his ear and sewing it back on.

With that feat accomplished, Yugi cautiously scanned the room, remembering Jou's warning about the monster that dwelled in this house. His eyes soon landed on Santa's familiar round form before he scurried over to the unconscious man, shaking him by the shoulder lightly.

"Santa," Yugi whispered. "Santa, you need to wake up."

"Huh?" the elder stirred. He cracked one tired eye open. "Who are—?!"

"Shh!" Yugi murmured, clamping a hand over Santa's mouth. "I'm here to save you but you must be quiet."

He waited until Santa nodded his head in an agreement to remain silent before removing his hand from his mouth and placing it on the ropes tied at the man's wrists. It took him a good ten minutes but he had eventually loosened the impossibly-tight knot. With success on the horizon, Yugi began to grow anxious. He soon realized that he had good reason to when he heard an amused voice from behind him.

"Well, what do we have here?"

Yugi turned so fast, he almost tripped. Part of him wished he did. That way he wouldn't have to see the hideous monster that stood there before him.

"Oogie," Yugi whispered.

"The one and only," the creature grinned. He surveyed Yugi with interested eyes…well, he would have if he had eyes. "My, aren't you a beauty. This is certainly a pleasure to have you in my humble home."

Yugi gasped when the creature made a move to grab him, the doll instinctively jumping back and landing on the floor with a loud thud. "Don't touch me!" Yugi yelled, trying to hide up the fear that was currently surging through him like a storm. "Yami will—!"

"Yami?" Oogie repeated, a devious grin appearing on his face. "Wait! Don't tell me! You're Yami's little doll, aren't you? The one that everyone's talking about? The one that has Yami all wrapped up in a knot?"

Yugi looked confused, though still cautious. "W-what do y-you mean?"

"You mean he hasn't told you yet?" Oogie laughed, the sound poisonous to Yugi's ears. "I should have known, the coward!" the creature paused, a sly smirk tainting its face. "No matter. For now…" he said, reaching out and grabbing Yugi by his leg, pulling the other to him despite Yugi's struggles. "You're mine."

Only one word passed through Yugi's thoughts before he was knocked unconscious.

_Yami…_

* * *

_To Be Continued..._

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Reviews/comments appreciated as always.


	10. Forever

Hi guys! So, here it is! The last chapter of NBC. It's been a bumpy ride but I hope you guys enjoyed it. Hope to see you guys in my other stories. Till then!

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Chapter 10: Forever

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Yugi bit into the gag, trying as hard as he could to force the intruding object out of his mouth. He struggled against the chains that were holding his hands above his head, trying all the while not to look down at the boiling pit of lava that was bubbling at his feet. Exhaling a sigh of desperation, Yugi glanced at the older man beside him and flashed Santa Claus a sympathetic look. Things were not looking bright.

It was at the moment that Oogie chose to re-enter the room, and Yugi immediately started his struggles all over again until finally he managed to loosen the cloth around his mouth, spitting the gag out of his mouth the second he had the chance.

"You wait till Yami hears about this!" Yugi hissed, partly because of the pain that was gnawing at his wrists. "By the time he's through with you, you'll be lucky if—"

"Yami!" Oogie laughed. "That skeleton is nothing but a pile of bones by now. Didn't you see? He was shot out of the sky!"

Yugi looked like he was struggling for words. "Yes but…he's fine, I know he is…he just—"

The creature released another roar of laughter, and if Yugi hadn't been keeping tabs on his emotions than surely he would have broken down into tears at the thought that Yami might not be coming home to him.

Yami burst through the forest, coming out to a clearing in the graveyard of Halloween Town. "Come on, Zero!" he said, not even bothering to keep the urgency out of his voice. "Christmas isn't over yet. There's still time."

Zero barked and that was the only signal that Yami needed before he took off across the cemetery, his strides fast, his steps hard. It wasn't all about Christmas anymore. Because, at the moment, Yami's stomach was turning with anxiety and his hands were sweating with determination. It was then that he knew that something was wrong with Yugi. And that alone sent him over the edge.

He didn't have to stop at the city square and ask around to find out where Yugi was. Knowing the smaller doll, he probably would already be two steps ahead of him and be searching for a way to fix this disaster. The same one that Yugi had warned him about so many times before.

And if the two thought anything alike, which Yami knew they did, then Yugi would have went to go look for Sandy Claws. And Yami knew just the place to look.

Slipping across the bridge that led to Oogie's mansion, Yami pointedly ignored when Jou ran past him, screaming at the top of his lungs, Bakura and Marik hot on his trail. Luckily, they didn't take notice of him or they might have stalled his mission to save Yugi. And that would have just been _bad_.

It had taken him a few minutes but he had eventually reached the front entrance to the tall building and he nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard Yugi's beautiful yet terrifying scream.

In an instant, he had snuck into the room where the shrieks had resonated from, just in time to see his arch rival pulling at a lever that, from what he could see, was flipping over a table that currently Yugi and Sandy Claws were attached to. He could have snapped Oogie's neck that very moment.

"Hmmm, one more roll ought to do it," Oogie cackled, tossing a pair of dice in the sockets of an old skeleton only for the two squares to fly out of the mouth. Oogie stared at the dice and growled. "What? Snake eyes!" He punched the table, hard enough so that the dice jumped and fell over onto different sides. He grinned triumphantly. "Eleven! It's looks like I've hit the jackpot!"

"You won't get away with this!" Yugi yelled and Yami had to restrain himself from sprinting to his love to keep from blowing his cover.

Oogie only smiled. "I think I already did, ragdoll."

And so, with another laugh, Oogie pulled at the lever, making the platform Yugi and Santa were on completely vertical, before walking over to the side of the room and pressing the button that released the restraints on his two captives' wrists. He grinned, eager to hear the screams of the two other occupants only to frown when none came.

"What the—"

He ran back over to the platform and pulled it towards him only to jump back in shock when Yami's blazing ruby eyes met his empty sockets.

"Hello, Oogie," Yami hissed, slowly pulling himself off of the table. His movements were threatening, quick, and alert.

"Y-Yami!" Oogie greeted, fear etching itself onto his words. "I thought you were dead…" he looked down and grinned before lashing out and pressing a button behind his shoulder. "Well, we can fix that, can't we?"

Yami growled, steadying himself when the ground below his feet started to rotate like a circle around the room. His skin immediately vanished into thin air and Yugi almost yelped in surprise from his hiding spot at seeing Yami's true form.

Quickly, Yami turned around and jumped, narrowly avoiding the swords that were being thrown his way from the six feet tall playing cards that were protruding from the ground around him.

"Well, come on!" Oogie antagonized from his safe spot across the room.

Yami merely glared before he expertly slid out of the swords' way with grace and almost no effort. Within a second, Oogie turned and pressed another button, and Yugi almost shrieked when he heard a round of gunfire. He peeked out to notice Yami—or at least, Yami's skeleton—avoiding every single one of the bullets, never stopping in his tracks to reach Oogie.

And Yugi wasn't the only one who realized that, at this point, Yami was unstoppable. Oogie must have realized this as well because he turned to his left and immediately tried to flee, latching on to a chain hanging above him and pushing himself over to the middle of the room, completely oblivious that he was now hanging directly over the boiling pool of lava that he had tried to incinerate Yugi in only minutes ago. "So long, Yami!" Oogie grinned as the chain started to pull him upwards in the direction of a hole in the ceiling.

Yami smiled at his increasing luck and Oogie's increasing stupidity.

Reaching out, the skeleton grabbed a hold of a loose thread that was hanging from Oogie's arm, his skin quickly regenerating itself so that he looked like his old handsome self again.

"How dare you treat Sandy Claws this way," Yami growled, pulling at the thread which had now caused Oogie's arm to split open, a sea of insects falling out of the hole in clumps and right into the pit of fire. Yugi immediately turned away from the disturbing sight though Yami's next words had him feeling fuzzy on the inside.

"How _dare_ you treat _Yugi_ like this! You should have known, Oogie, how much he means to me! I think you did know, though. But what you don't seem to understand," Yami whispered dangerously, his eyes narrowed into slits, "is that no one ever lays a finger on him and gets away with it. _No one."_

With a final yank, Oogie entire skin came falling off, leaving nothing but a crumpling form of insects behind which screeched and shrieked as they fell into the lava and burned into oblivion.

Yami didn't even stop to look at the scene, instead pivoting on his heel and walking over to Yugi and Santa who were both out of their hiding place and standing upright, staring at him with expectation.

"Forgive me, Mr. Claus," Yami sighed the second he was within reach of the two, Yugi's eyes lighting up when he heard the correct pronunciation of the older man's name for the first time. "I'm afraid I've made a terrible mess of your holiday."

Santa reached out to take back his hat which Yami had taken out of his pocket. "Bumpy sleigh ride, Yami?" Santa snapped, rubbing his temples in agitation. "The next time you get the urge to take over somebody else's holiday, I'd listen to him!" the old man said, pointing to Yugi. "He's the only one that makes any sense around this insane asylum."

Yami flashed Yugi a small smile before glancing back to Santa who was putting back on his hat and stalking away, mumbling something about 'skeletons'.

"I hope there's still time!" Yami called out after him.

Santa paused in his tracks and turned his head to look over his shoulder. "To save Christmas? Of course, there is! I'm Santa Claus!"

Yami opened his mouth to respond by the time he blinked, Santa Claus had already left. Yugi watched Yami's still form for a moment longer before walking up to him and offering him a smile. "Don't worry, Yami. He'll fix things. He knows what to do."

Yami turned to look at Yugi, the scarlet orbs soft and affectionate. "How did you get down here, Yugi?"

Yugi looked taken aback by the question before quickly looking down at his hands. "I…um, I guess…you know…I wanted—"

"To help me?" Yami suggested.

Yugi looked up and smiled. "Yeah."

Yami had to blink a few times to make sure he wasn't seeing all the love and concern shining so vibrantly in Yugi's beautiful eyes. He wanted to hit himself when after the third blink, it was still there, bright as ever.

"Oh, Yugi," Yami murmured, wrapping his arms around the other's waist and pulling him close. Yugi's cheeks flushed a lovely shade of pink when Yami cupped his face and held it only a few inches away from his own. "I can't believe that I never realized—"

"Yami!"

Both tri-colored haired youths winced and looked away when a blinding light was shined in their eyes. Yami had to use his hand as a visor so that he could look up and see the person who had called out for him. He was surprised when he saw Serenity, Bakura, and Marik standing at the doorway, Jou and Kaiba in front of the pack.

"See! He's alive!" Jou said excitedly.

"Just like we told you," Bakura lied but it went unnoticed.

"Well, what are we still doing here?" Kaiba muttered, relieved at finding Yami in one piece. "We need to let everyone know."

Yugi smiled as he watched Bakura and Marik practically drag Yami out of the house before Jou came to his side and ruffled his hair.

"I'm glad you're okay, man," the ghoul murmured.

Yugi nodded, his eyes following Yami's form. "Yeah, Jou, me too. Me too."

* * *

--

* * *

"Yami's okay!" Anzu cheered along with the dozens of other citizens that greeted the Mayor and highly-missed pumpkin king.

"And he's back!" Mai added, the witch's voice getting drowned out by the loud clapping that circulated through the city square.

A group of kids, consisting of corpses and mummies, pulled at Yami's legs and laughed. "Yami is back now, everyone sing! In our town of Halloween!"

"It's great to be home!" Yami shouted over the crowd, his attention drifting towards the sky when he heard a familiar voice. The first thing he noticed was Santa's sled crossing the full moon. The next thing was the small balls of white that were falling down towards the ground gently.

"Happy Halloween!"

Yami heard Santa's echoing words and smiled. "Merry Christmas!" he yelled back, waving at the old man until he flew out of view. He looked back down to realize that everybody was staring at the snow with a curious glint in their eyes.

"What's this?" Ryou murmured.

"I haven't got a clue." Jou replied

"Hmm," Malik said, sticking out his tongue, his face lighting up like a Christmas tree when the cold snowflakes brushed his tongue. "This is completely new!"

One of the corpse children titled their head and scrutinized the flakes with suspicion. "Must be a Christmas thing."

Kaiba nodded absent-mindedly. "It's really very strange."

Yami grinned as he watched everyone get acquainted with the beautiful wonder that was Christmas, his eyes scanning the crowd as they basked in the unfamiliar feeling that ran through their spines. In one corner, Bakura had tackled Ryou to the ground and Malik had aimed a snowball right at Marik's face. He stifled a chuckle when he saw Jou pounce on Kaiba's unsuspecting form while serenity just sat back and laughed.

His gaze eventually landed on Yugi, who was standing there smiling at everyone. He watched as the doll bent down and picked a dead flower from the ground before turning on his heel and making his way towards the graveyard.

Yami smiled slightly before following the little doll, leaving everybody who wasn't Yugi behind in his wake.

He got there just in time to see Yugi plop himself down at the top of the hill, the small fingers picking at the petals of the flower softly.

Yugi was so involved in his thoughts that he didn't hear Yami following him. So much had happened over the past few weeks. Stumbling into Halloween Town, making a whole bunch of new friends, meeting _Yami._

Yugi smiled at that last thought. And it was at that moment that Yugi realized that, no matter what happened, he could never leave Halloween Town. He could never leave Yami. Because Yami completed him and he would do anything to be by Yami's side forever.

Yugi nearly jumped in surprise when he heard a footstep not that far behind him, and he quickly turned his neck only to smile when his eyes met Yami's. Before he could say a word though, Yami beat him to it.

"My dearest friend, if you don't mind, I'd like to join you by your side."

Yugi's smile outshined the moon as he continued to watch Yami approach him. He didn't even realize that he had stood up and that he was now standing on his feet, his eyes never leaving the crimson ones that he loved so much.

"Where we can gaze into the stars," Yami whispered, reaching out to clasp Yugi's hand within his own. "And sit together."

"Now and forever," Yugi murmured, standing on his tiptoes so that Yami's breath mingled with his own.

Yami smiled, moving his arms until they rested protectively around Yugi's frail little waist. "For it is plain as anyone can see…"

"…we're simply meant to be."

And with that, Yami leaned down to press a soft kiss against Yugi's lips. And it was then that he knew that no longer what obstacles he faced and no matter what happened in his life, Yugi would always by his side and he would always be by Yugi's...

Now and forever.

* * *

**End**

* * *

Reviews/comments appreciated as always.


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